Five Years Later - Pentatonix Story
by butterflyeleven11
Summary: This story takes place five years into the future... Where will everyone be in Pentatonix? Who will be with who? Hope you enjoy! (I'm bad at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

Pentatonix… 5 Years later

This story takes place five years later, the entire group lives in the same apartment complex in LA. Kirstie lives with her boyfriend, Aaron. Scott and Mitch still live together with Wyatt Blue. Kevin and Avi share an apartment. A little bit about each of the members for this story…

Avi has been dating a girl he met through Kevin for the past two years. Her name is Grace and she is roommates with Avi's sister, Esther, for the past six months. Grace and Esther travel with the group whenever they travel so that they can assist them. Before Grace came along, Avi was smitten with Kirstie, but never really felt that he had a chance with her because she seemed to always be seeing someone. When he met Grace, his feelings for Kirstie went to the back burner.

Kevin is currently single and has been focused on his career more than ever, as he is one of the hardest working members of the group.

Mitch just ended a long term relationship with a guy he met through one of the after show parties several years ago, Jason. Jason and Mitch were very much in love until Jason cheated on Mitch, which has made Mitch a little apprehensive towards starting a new relationship.

Scott has not been dating anyone recently. He dated Esther, Avi's sister for a little while a couple of years ago, but they both ended it knowing that they were better as friends. Scott has had a thing for Kirstie since high school and just hasn't said anything to her, although, he's almost positive that Mitch knows.

Kirstie had been with Aaron now for almost a year and a half. They moved in together about three months ago and Kirstie was already getting tired of it. She felt that Aaron was very over protective of her and was very jealous, which became more so when they moved in together. Kirstie has liked Avi and Scott at different times over the years, but has not had any sort of relationship with either one. She knew in her heart that she was settling for Aaron, but felt she was locked in a rental agreement for now.

As for the group, they have been touring, making new music, performing concerts, and have been very busy. They are very busy and have continued to have a lot of success thanks to all of their amazing fans!

Now on with the story….

It's morning and Kirstie can feel the sun on her face as she stretches facing her window. She sits up and turns behind her and sees Aaron sleeping peacefully. She slowly gets up and walks over to the window in her bedroom and looks outside and sees that it is another beautiful day in LA. She goes into the bathroom and brushes her teeth, combs her hair and pulls it into a small ponytail and puts on a hat; she puts on some jeans and a t-shirt that she got while touring in Rome last summer. She threw on her hoodie and grabbed her keys and headed out the door. She was going to go get some coffee for her and Aaron at the local Starbucks. She waits patiently in line as she tries to wake up and she pulls out her phone and checks her messages. She feels a tap on her shoulder and she turns around and sees her friend, Mitch. She smiles and says, "Good Morning, Sunshine."

"Good Morning, Sweetie, I see you are on coffee duty today?" Mitch says with a smirk.

"Yea, I see you are too." Kirstie says with a sideways smile.

"Yep, you know it. I think sometimes that Scott secretly sleeps in just so he doesn't have to get coffee in the mornings," Mitch says with a laugh.

"So, has Jason called you lately?" Kirstie asks.

Mitch's face changed from upbeat to somber and he said, "Yea, he attempted to call me last night, but I didn't answer. I'm so over him and his excuses. Cheat on me and we are through. I do not tolerate that at all in relationships."

"That's so crazy that he did that, you are such a wonderful person, Mitch. But, I know that you will find someone even better, someone that will sweep you off your feet!" Kirstie says.

"I doubt it, I really don't even want to date right now, I just want to stay focused on our music," he says.

"Seeing that we are very busy right now, that won't be hard to do," she says back with a half hug.

Kirstie and Mitch walk up to the counter and smile at their regular barista and she greets them with a smile and says, "The usual?"

They nod and Mitch says, "I love it when Stacy is working!"

Kirstie nods in agreement and says, "Me too, she's the only one who knows all of our orders by heart!"

Mitch and Kirstie both grab their orders and head back to the apartment complex down the block. They sip their coffees as they walk back and Mitch asks, "How's Aaron?"

Thinking about her answer, she waits to respond for a minute and then says, "Okay, I guess. He's just really over protective and he gets so jealous all the time. I know that he would never ever hurt me, but he freaks out when I go do things on my own or talk to another guy, it's getting kind of old."

"Why are you still with him then?" Mitch says.

"I don't know. I feel like I'm trapped in this relationship with him because we just signed a lease on this apartment. I don't want to leave him hanging, I do care for him." She says.

"Do you still love him?" Mitch asks.

Kirstie doesn't say anything at this point and Mitch nudges her and says, "Was that an answer?"

She looks at Mitch and says, "It's complicated, I never thought that I would be one of those girls who would use the phrase, I love him, but I'm not in love with him."

"Ah, the fatal blow to any relationship, I think that you should tell him, maybe you can find another place to stay and he can find a roommate?" Mitch says.

"Maybe, I'm going to try and see what happens, you never know. Things might turn around for us," she says.

They walk up the two flights of stairs and head towards their apartments. Kirstie and Aaron's are on the left while Mitch and Scott's are on the right.

Mitch walks into the door and Scott is waiting on the couch with Wyatt Blue. He stands up and says, "Thank you so much!"

Mitch smirks at him and says, "I knew that you were awake when I left. You are going tomorrow morning."

"Fine," Scott says and grabs his coffee and returns to the couch.

Meanwhile, Kirstie walks into her apartment and finds Aaron pacing the living room. She reaches out towards him with his cup of coffee and says, "Good Morning, babe."

He walks over and says, "You didn't leave a note, I didn't know where you went."

"I went to get coffee, I was just down the block," she replies.

"Kirstie, I care about you, I don't want anything to happen to you. You should leave a note next time," he says walking over and pulling her in for a hug.

"Okay, sorry about that. Hey, do you mind if I go over to Mitch and Scott's for a second, I wanted to talk to them about this new song we are going to do," she says.

"Now, why are you going over there this early in the morning? They are probably still sleeping." Aaron says upset.

"I just saw Mitch at Starbucks, he got there right when I did, it was so funny," she says.

"Oh, okay, I guess. I was going to go help my brother move today anyway," he says with a defeated look.

Kirstie feels bad for just a minute, but cannot wait to get out of the apartment. Living with Aaron these past few months have made her apartment seem very small for some reason. She headed out the door and waved at Aaron and headed down the way to Scott and Mitch's. When she got to their door, she knocked and waited.

Mitch went over to the door and opened it and smiled at Kirstie and said, "What's up?"

"Can I hang out here for just a little bit, I cannot even breathe in my apartment right now," she asks.

"Sure, of course, come in," Mitch says.

They walk over to the living room and Kirstie and Mitch continue to talk about everything with Aaron. After talking for a little bit, they hear Scott's door open and Scott walks out into the living room in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He just got out of the shower and was coming back into the living room to grab a shirt. Kirstie couldn't help but notice Scott and she couldn't help but giggle. Scott looked up at Kirstie and Mitch who were both staring at him and he said, "Hey there."

Kirstie said, "Hey, go put some clothes on."

Mitch laughed and said, "Only if you want too, I don't mind."

Kirstie nudges Mitch and says, "Mitchy."

Scott laughs and says, "I plan on putting some clothes on. I was just grabbing a shirt, thank you."

As Scott walks back to his room, Kirstie watches him walk away and Mitch turns to her and meets her gaze and he teases, "I saw that."

"You saw nothing," she says back with a small awkward giggle.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – You Should Go Home Now

Mitch and Kirstie talked for a little while until Scott eventually joined them in the living room. "What brings you over this morning, Kirstie?" Scott asks.

"The usual," Mitch jumps in and says, "Aaron was being clingy."

"I just needed a break, he got upset because I went to get coffee without leaving him a note this morning, I feel like I'm living back home with my parents or something," Kirstie says.

"Girl, I'm telling you, just be honest with him and move on," Mitch says.

"What do you mean, be honest with him, what else is going on?" Scott asked.

Kirstie looks at Mitch and covers his mouth with her hand as he was about to speak. Kirstie shot him a look as to say, shut it. She looked over at Scott and said, "Nothing, it's fine, don't worry about it."

Mitch didn't understand why Kirstie didn't want to tell Scott, he thought that she told them both everything, or he thought that she did. Scott looked confused as he knew there was something more to this story. He sighed and said, "Okay, if you say so."

Kirstie got up and grabbed her coffee and headed towards the door, "Okay, I'll see y'all later at rehearsal, okay." She walked out the door as the boys waved bye to her and as soon as the door latched closed, Scott looked over at Mitch and said, "What's up?"

Mitch smiled and said, "Nothing, Scott, why do you think that something is up?"

"Because I know you and I know Kirstie. Why wouldn't she tell me what was going on, I want to know too." Scott said.

"She is realizing how she really feels about Aaron, that's all. I think that she's struggling with that. I don't think that they will be together for much longer, but Kirstie is still in the contract with him on their apartment, so she is just stressing over that." Mitch said.

"Please don't say anything to her, let her talk to you," Mitch added.

"I don't really understand why she couldn't just say that to me," Scott said looking over at the coffee table where Wyatt was sleeping.

Scott stood up and said, "I'll be back in a little bit, okay."

Mitch looked at him and said, "Okay."

Scott headed out and headed towards Kirstie and Aaron's apartment and wanted to talk to Kirstie to see what was going on. They were best friends, right. He got up to the door and knocked and Aaron answered the door.

Aaron looking annoyed said, "Hey Scott, what's up?"

"I wanted to see if I could talk to Kirstie?" Scott asked.

"Didn't you just see her?" Aaron asked quickly.

Kirstie came around to the door and said, "Aaron, who is it?"

She looked over Aaron's shoulder and saw Scott and smiled and said, "Come on it."

Aaron stepped aside and watched Scott walk in. He thought that the timing was convenient as he was just about to head out to help his brother move. He looked over at Kirstie and whispered, "Did you invite him over when you knew that I was going to leave?"

She looked at him like he was nuts and said, "Calm down, he's my friend, and no, I had no idea that he was going to come over."

"Okay, well, I'll be over at my brother's place, call me if you head out," Aaron said with a quick peck and hug. He looked over at Scott and said, "I'll see you later, Hoying."

"Bye Aaron, see ya," Scott said. He was sort of happy that Aaron was leaving since he had a bit of a little attitude for some reason.

Scott sat down in the living room on the couch and Kirstie came over and sat down on the couch facing Scott and asked, "So, what's up?"

"You could tell me, Kirst, we are best friends. What can you tell Mitch that you can't tell me?" Scott asked.

"Ah, are you sure that Mitch didn't already tell you everything?" Kirstie said with a small smirk.

"Not everything, I wanted to talk to you, what's going on?" Scott asked.

"I don't think that I'm in love with Aaron anymore and I think that I want to end things," Kirstie said with a small tear in her eye.

Scott reached over and pulled Kirstie into a hug and said, "Don't worry, Kirst, it'll be okay."

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him and she felt so at ease with Scott, like everything was the way it should be. She always struggled with her feelings towards Scott and well, also Avi. She felt that her heart was always in a tug of war with itself until Aaron came along. She was able to focus her heart and soul on Aaron and it was refreshing. But, now with Aaron and the issues that they were having, her heart was letting some feeling resurface again. Scott held Kirstie for a little bit and started to rub her back. She pulled away from Scott's hug and sat up again on the couch.

"Do you think that you'll tell him soon? He should know how you feel?" Scott asked.

"That's a lot easier said than done, I don't want to hurt him," Kirstie said.

"Yea, I know that feeling. When I was with Esther, it was so hard to finally tell her that I wanted to be just friends, but I was so relieved because she felt the same exact way. Just think, Aaron might feel the same exact way," Scott said.

"I don't know, he just seems so over protective and he gets so jealous anytime I talk to any guy, even Mitch," Kirstie said with a small smile.

Scott smiled and said, "Is that why he was weird when I came over here just now?"

"Yea, he can't stand it when we are alone," Kirstie says.

"Why, what does he think we'll do?" Scott said with a laugh.

"You'll have to ask him that, I have no idea," Kirstie said with a laugh.

Scott reached over and tickled Kirstie to make her laugh and she protested, "Scott, don't start, you know I can't stand it when you tickle me."

This only made him want to tickle her more and she squealed and they somehow got in a very close situation of where Scott had Kirstie facing him in his lap with his arms around her waist and her arms trying to push him away. He wanted to lean in and kiss her in that moment because it's something that he wanted to do for such a long time. He stopped tickling her and she settled down and she sat there in his lap for a moment and looked at him. They stared at each other and Scott looked at Kirstie's mouth and then her eyes while she did the same. Kirstie felt Scott's hands and realized that they were sitting on her waist and she had moved her hands to his chest. Scott's heart starting beating really fast and he didn't really know what was going on, just that he wanted to lean in and kiss Kirstie. Kirstie realizing what was about to happen, blinked and pulled away and sat on the side of the couch and said, "Scott, I think that you should go home now."

To Be Continued….


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Rehearsal

The group all walked into rehearsal at a nearby studio. Kevin and Avi were there first and were looking over some of the arrangements they had planned for a new song they were working on. Kirstie walked in and smiled at Esther and Grace who were sitting against the far wall of the studio. She walked over as rehearsal hadn't started yet and said, "Hey girls."

"Hiya Kirst, how are you doing?" Esther asked with a wide smile.

"I'm doing okay, I guess," Kirstie answered. She was still thinking of the situation with Aaron and the situation with Scott earlier. She didn't want this to be awkward, but thought that there was no way to avoid it. Kirstie sat down in a nearby chair and started pulling out her notebook and looking through it at songs.

Esther leaned over to Kirstie and said, "How's Aaron?"

Kirstie looked at Esther and sighed and her face said it all, "It's going; just don't know for how long."

"Is he coming to rehearsal today?" Esther asked.

"No, he's helping his brother move today, it's okay, I could use a little break from him at the moment," Kirstie said.

Esther nodded as if she understood and said, "Okay, well, if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks Esther, that's really sweet of you," Kirstie said.

Grace leaned over and said, "I'm here for you too, Kirst." Kirstie smiled and thought that Grace was always so sweet and kind, she was happy that Avi found someone so wonderful.

Kirstie stood up and carried her notebook over to one of the chairs by Kevin and Avi. "Hey guys," Kirstie said, "Where's Mitch and Scott?"

"Running late," Avi said smiling. "How are you doing today, Kirstie?"

"I'm okay, you?" Kirstie said hoping that Avi wouldn't ask about Aaron, she was getting tired of the conversation.

"Good, doing really well," Avi said, "Is Aaron coming by today?"

Kirstie sighed in her head and said, "No, he's busy today, maybe next time."

Kevin leaned over and said, "Kirstie, look at this arrangement for Titanium, I know it's an old song, but I think that we could really put a nice change to it."

Kirstie leaned over and glanced over the sheet music and sang softly as Avi and Kevin chimed in on their parts. They were singing softly when Scott and Mitch came in and saw them all singing. Mitch said, "Should we be worried? Are y'all going to go out on your own in a trio?"

Kevin, Avi, and Kirstie all laughed. Kevin said, "I was just showing Kirstie this new arrangement I've been working on.

Scott leaned over Kirstie's shoulder and looked at the sheet music and Kirstie could feel his presence, let the awkwardness begin, she thought to herself. She tried to act normal and calm and not act like she had just asked her best friend to leave her apartment earlier today. She looked over at Mitch was looking at her and she smiled softly and he returned a small smile. Scott looked over at Kevin and said, "That is really good, I like that, Kevin." He placed his hand on Kirstie's shoulder and squeezed it and walked over to another chair. Kirstie bravely looked at Scott who was smiling and she smiled back. She looked down at the sheet music and tried to avoid eye contact with him, she really wanted to figure out this situation with Aaron, besides Scott couldn't really be into her, not after all this time, could he?

The band sang all of their hits, old ones, new ones, and then sang the new arrangement of Titanium and they were really good. The rehearsal lasted for about two hours and they decided to wrap it up. Scott pulled Kirstie to the side and said, "Can we talk really quick?"

"Sure, what's up?" Kirstie said.

"I'm sorry if I was out of line earlier today," Scott said reaching for her arm.

She looked down at her arm where his fingers lightly touched her and she could feel his touch in her bones, even after all of these years. She looked at him and said, "It's okay, don't worry about it, we just got carried away for a second. Besides, nothing happened."

"Yea, I guess you are right," Scott said dropping his hand and then putting both of his hands into his pockets. She could sense that he felt uneasy and she reached towards his arm and said, "Really, no worries, okay."

He nodded and then he looked up for some reason and saw that he was getting daggers from Esther, which was really odd, because he and Esther were just friends and they ended things years ago. Kirstie looked at Scott's eyes and saw confusion and she turned around with her hand still on Scott's arm and saw Esther standing there, arms crossing in front of her, staring them both down. Kirstie turned back around towards Scott and asked, "Okay, what did I miss?"

"I have no idea, guess I'll need to talk to her," Scott said.

He walked over to Esther who turned and headed outside and he caught up to her outside and said, "Esther, what's up?"  
"Don't what's up me, Scott; I see what's going on here. You love her, don't you?" Esther asked.

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked.

"Kirstie, you love her. I saw the way you touched her shoulder when you came in and leaning over her shoulder. You also couldn't keep your eyes off of her the entire rehearsal and the way you just looked at her, just now in the corner of the room; I thought that you said that you only saw her as a friend?" Esther explained as calmly as she could. She was really trying not to turn into a jealous friend, but she had feelings for Scott still. She only ended things with him in hopes of starting something back up when he wanted too. She had longed for him all these years and just hoped that she would have another chance. But, now, she felt that all of her chances were gone, after seeing Scott today.

"Esther, I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are talking about, but we just friends now. We haven't dated in years, where is this all coming from?" Scott said softly not wanting to upset her.

"Yes, we are just friends now and we haven't dated for years, but I guess I thought that we would get back together, eventually," Esther said.

"Esther," Scott said walking towards her, he felt bad that she felt this way, and he hoped that he hadn't lead her on in any way.

"Don't, I'm okay, I'm just being a stupid girl right now," Esther said.

"You are not a stupid girl, don't say that," Scott said quickly.

Esther shrugged and said a small good bye and walked away and then Grace came outside to see what was going on. Grace looked at Scott and then at Esther who was walking over to the car. She smiled and Scott and headed over towards Esther and they got in their car. Scott stood there with his hands in his pockets wondering what to do. He really did like Kirstie, but, would it ruin everything, he didn't want to hurt Esther; he didn't want to hurt anyone. Kirstie was still in a relationship and he didn't want to put Kirstie in that position again, he would just try and keep his distance for now.

Grace and Esther sat in the car and Grace looked over at Esther and said, "What is wrong with you? You look like Scott just cheated on you?"

"I know, I guess I was fooling myself into thinking that Scott and I would be something again, I thought that I could just play it cool, and be his best friend, and one day, he would look over at me and realize, hey, there's the girl I've been waiting for, sitting there all right in front of me," Esther said wiping away a tear.

"Well, what happened to make you think that he doesn't see you like that? Did I miss something in rehearsal today?" Grace said.

"The way Scott looked at Kirstie today, touched her shoulder, touched her arm, everything, he looked at her like I have wanted him to look at me since day one," Esther said.

Grace tried to recall these things, but her eyes were on Avi mostly, so she missed a lot of the other members of the band. Grace said sincerely, "Maybe you just thought that you were seeing something there that is not there at all, they are best friends and have been for a really long time."

"Trust me, Grace, it's something more this time," Esther said. "I'm ready to go home, are you coming with me or going with Avi?"

"I was going to go out to eat with Avi; do you want to come with us?" Grace asked with a smile.

"It's fine, go out with Avi, I'll see you later," Esther said.

"Do you want me to bring you back something; we are going to Sam's?" Grace asked.

"No, thank you though, you are really sweet," Esther said with a small smile.

"Okay, well, let me know, just text me, okay. See you soon." Grace said as she got out of the car and headed back to the studio. Scott was still standing there and she smiled and said, "She'll be okay, Scott."

"Really, because it didn't seem so," Scott said.

Grace headed back inside and Scott followed her in and she went over to Avi and hugged him. "Great job today, babe, you were amazing as always!"

"Thanks Gracie," Avi said hugging her back and kissing her.

Grace smiled and asked, "You ready to go?"

"Yea, let's go; see y'all tomorrow, same time." Avi said as he looked back at the band and headed out the door with Grace.

Mitch and Scott got ready to go and headed out as Kevin and Kirstie followed closely behind. Kevin waved bye as Mitch, Scott, and Kirstie stood by their cars and they waved bye. Mitch turned to Scott and Kirstie and said, "What's up you two?"

Kirstie nervously laughed and said, "Nothing, what are you talking about?"

Scott said, "Nothing, Mitch, just had an awkward situation earlier today, but it's all good, nothing is going on."

"Scott?" Kirstie said.

"Okay, we both knew that I was going to tell Mitch anyway, I tell him everything," Scott said.

"Hold up, what exactly happened with you two earlier today and I need details," Mitch says folding his arms across his chest with a smirk.

Kirstie shook her head and said, "I'm going home, bye Scott. Bye Mitch, Scott can fill you in on the details, I guess."

She waved by and laughed and got in her car and headed down the street.

Mitch turned to Scott and said, "Spill it."

Scott told Mitch what happened and then what happened with Esther and Mitch said, "Wow, I missed a lot, is it true?"

"Is what true?" Scott asked.

"What Ester said, do you love Kirstie?" Mitch asked.

"To be completely honest with you, Mitch, I don't know. I just know that I have these feelings for her and I have had feelings for her before, but just never said anything. I don't want to hurt anyone, I'm just at a loss as to what to do."

Meanwhile… at Grace and Avi's dinner…

"You won't believe what Esther told me earlier," Grace said.

"Should you tell me? I don't want to know something that I shouldn't know," Avi said.

"Well, I trust you, you won't say anything to anyone," she said sweetly.

"Okay, what's going on with Esther, I saw that she looked upset when she left," he said concerned.

Grace looked around the room out of habit and leaned forward and whispered, "She thinks that Scott is in love with Kirstie."

Avi dropped his fork on his plate and he said, "Oh, sorry about that, what did you say?"

"She thinks that Scott is in love with Kirstie," Grace said.

Avi blinked and looked at his plate of food. He looked up at Grace and said, "I don't think that is true."

Grace thought that Avi was being a bit weird about this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing, just trying to process that," Avi said. He was surprised at his gut reaction to this news. It didn't bother him that Kirstie was with Aaron and that they were in love, but it for some reason, bothered him that Scott might be in love with her. This was one of his best friends. Avi liked Kristie at one time, really liked her, possibly loved her at one time, but he never acted on it because it never seemed like the right time. Then, he met Grace a couple of years ago, and he was able to focus on her. He realized that Grace was staring at him waiting for an answer to a question and he had not heard the question.

"What was that, babe?" he asked.

"Why are you trying to process it? Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?" Grace asked anxiously.

"Nothing, sorry, I'm okay. Just a long day, you know," Avi said trying to reassure her, but feeling somewhat guilty about it.

To Be Continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Chp 4 – The Break

Kirstie headed back to the apartment and was relieved that it was empty of Aaron. She walked around and looked at their things, pictures of them on vacation, a magnet they got together on their first trip to the mountains, little things that brought happy memories. But, was she being fair to Aaron, she wondered if her feelings for Scott were starting to resurface. She almost kissed him; she couldn't believe how close they almost came. She sat down and watched some TV until Aaron would come home. She pulled out her phone and texted Aaron and asked and he replied, 'I'll be home in about two hours, almost done babe.' She then scrolled through her contacts and dialed Mitch and he answered on the second ring.

Mitch picked up the phone and said, "Hello Sweetie, what's going on?"

"Can you come over?" Kirstie asked.

Mitch sensing that Kirstie needed him said, "Of course, I'll be right over in a few minutes."

Kirstie said, "Okay, thanks Mitch, bye!"

"Bye Kirst," Mitch said.

Mitch put his phone down and Scott looked at him and said, "Everything okay with Kirstie?"

"Yea, she just needs to talk, I'll be back later," Mitch said standing up and going to the door.

Scott watched as Mitch left and he wanted to go too, but knew he should stay there.

Mitch came into the apartment and found Kirstie sitting on the sofa in the living room crying. He walked over and sat down and put his arm around her and said, "What's wrong?"

"Everything, Mitchy", Kirstie said between sobs.

Mitch went to get Kirstie a glass of water and grabbed the box of tissues and came back over and said, "Here, drink this. Wipe your eyes, take a deep breath, and tell me what's wrong?"

After a few minutes of Kirstie calming down, she looked at Mitch and said, "I'm going to break up with Aaron when he comes home today."

Mitch held Kirstie because he knew that she hated hurting anyone in her life and that this was going to be really hard for her to do. He said, "When did you decide all of this?"

"Today, yesterday, the day before, I think that I have known for a little while. I just was really thinking about it and it's just going well, you know. It's not fair to him for me to be in this relationship with him when I know that I am settling for him, you know," Kirstie said.

"I think that you should just be honest with yourself and with Aaron. What are you going to do about the apartment?" Mitch asked out of concern.

"I don't know yet, I haven't even gotten that far. I'm going to give him the option of staying here, he loves this apartment, I was going to call the landlord and see if there was another one available," Kirstie said.

After a little time passed, Mitch looked down at his phone and said, "I better get going before Scott bursts in here wanting to know what's going on, he was there when you called earlier."

"Oh, well, I guess you can tell him what I plan on doing, that way I don't have to tell the whole thing again," Kirstie said.

"What's going on with you two?" Mitch asked.

"Me and Scott," Kirstie said.

"Yea, something is up with y'all," Mitch said.

"Mitch, I have no idea what's going on, all I know is that I almost kissed him today, me, Kirstie, almost kissed my best friend, right here on this sofa. What if Aaron had walked in? He would have been devastated," Kirstie said.

"Is that also why you are breaking up with Aaron today?" Mitch asked.

"Not the only reason, just more of like it was an eye opening experience and I realized that Aaron wasn't the one for me. But, because of Scott, no," Kirstie said.

"Yea, I get that, well, I will talk to you later, call me," Mitch said with a hug goodbye.

Kirstie watched Mitch walk out of the apartment and she waited for Aaron to come home.

Mitch walked into his apartment he shared with Scott was not surprised to see Scott at the piano. Scott paused and looked up and said, "You have been gone forever, what in the world is going on, I almost came down there to see what was up, you know how hard that was for me?"

Mitch smiled softly and said, "I know, I know. Kirstie needed to talk; she's going to break up with Aaron today when he gets home."

"Whaat, she's breaking up with him?" Scott asked as his mind went racing.

"Yea, and you might want to work on your sincerity when you see her, you almost sound excited," Mitch said with a smirk.

"I do feel for her, I like Aaron, I just don't know if I have ever liked him and Kirstie dating, he didn't seem like he was good enough for her," Scott said.

"Hmmm," Mitch said going over to the kitchen to grab some coffee.

"Don't hmmm me, I am being serious," Scott said nudging Mitch.

"Can I ask you something, Scott, and you'll be completely honest with me," Mitch said with a very firm look.

Scott was worried for a moment, but said, "Yes."

Mitch poured his cup of coffee and reached for the sugar and started to drop a spoonful into his mug. He looked up and he stirred it with a spoon and said, "Do you like Kirstie?"

Scott didn't answer, but turned towards the living room. He went to his phone and brought it to the kitchen and Mitch watched him pull up some folder on his phone. Scott showed the folder and it was filled with photos of Scott and Kirstie together, from before Pentatonix formed to current days at random concerts. Mitch looked at Scott and said, "Wow, how many pictures do you have in this folder?"

"About fifty, it's just some of my favorites from the years. When I'm feeling down, I scroll through them. I have a folder of all of us too, but this one is the one that is password protected, I never wanted Kristie to know that I had a folder of just us," Scott said as if he was revealing a big secret.

Mitch looked at Scott and said, "So, I'm guessing that the answer to my question is a yes."

Scott pursed his lips and raised his eyebrow and took his phone back and nodded slightly.

Mitch said, "Are you going to tell her?"

"I want to, but every time that I feel like telling her, she starts seeing someone," Scott says.

"Okay, I know for a fact, that she was single for like five months before she started dating Aaron," Mitch said.

"I had just ended things with Esther and how do you know how hard it to tell one of your best friends that you like them in a romantic way?" Scott asked.

Mitch smiled and said, "I can imagine it's difficult, especially after all of these years. You know, I don't think that Esther will be happy for you two or Avi."

Scott stopped in his tracks, "Avi? What about Avi, why wouldn't he be happy?"

"Nothing, I did not say his name," Mitch said feeling horrible for almost spilling Avi's secret from years ago.

"Mitchy, tell me, or I will tickle you," Scott said walking towards him.

"That is not fair, Scott, and you know it," Mitch said and walked away from Scott.

"Tell me, I won't say anything, I promise," Scott said.

"Okay, this was years ago, Avi had a big huge crush on Kirstie, like, I think that he even loved her," Mitch said.

Scott completely dropped his jaw open and said, "Avi loved Kirstie?"

"Yea, well, I think so, he never asked her out, then he met Grace, and I guess he didn't. He seems really happy with Grace, you know." Mitch said.

Aaron came home and was completely exhausted from helping his brother move. He was happy to see Kirstie when he came through the door and was even happier to see that none of her 'guy' friends were hanging out with her alone. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle and came into the living room where Kirstie was sitting and he sat in the recliner and put his feet up and said, "Hey babe."

Kirstie looked up and Aaron saw her puffy eyes and sighed, "What happened now?"

"We need to talk, Aaron." Kirstie said gently.

"About what?" Aaron said as he took a swig of water.

She waited until he was put the water bottle down and looked at Aaron sincerely and said, "I think that we need to break up."

Aaron put the recliner in a sitting position and said, "What are you talking about?"

"I have thought a lot about it and I think that we need a break, I'm so sorry Aaron. The last thing that I want to do in this world is hurt you, and I don't want to lead you on in anyway, but I feel that we aren't meant to be together anymore," Kirstie said.

"Do you not love me anymore?" Aaron asked.

"I do love you Aaron, but-" Kirstie started and then was cut off by Aaron, "Don't say, that you are just not in love with me anymore, I don't want to hear that if that's what you have to say."

"I know that we just started living together and we have a rental agreement, but I just feel that in my heart, we need to end things now." Kirstie said as she reached for Aaron's hands.

He held her hands in his and looked at her in the eyes and knew what she was saying was the truth. He couldn't help but feel that she was drifting away from him and then he asked, "Please tell me this is not because of some guy."

Kirstie shook her head and said, "No, this is not because of some guy."

After a long ten minutes of utter silence, Aaron stood up and walked around the apartment and looked over at Kirstie and said, "What's the plan for the apartment?"

"Whatever you want to do, if you want to stay, I'll find another place. It might take a couple of days, but I'll try and find a place as soon as possible," Kirstie said.

"Kirstie, I don't want to make you move out of your apartment, but if you honestly don't mind, I would love to stay here, I love this location," Aaron said.

"I can see if I can get my old loft apartment back, it might still be available, it's only been a few months, you know. I want you to be happy, Aaron. You will meet an amazing girl one day and she will love you the way you should be loved," Kirstie said.

"I already found an amazing girl," Aaron said as he reached for her and gave her a hug.

They both felt like this was a goodbye hug and Kirstie said, "I'm going to go now, okay. I'll go find out about my apartment and I'll come back later."

Kirstie stepped out of the apartment and felt free for the first time in over a year, she felt like a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She could breathe again. She didn't feel smothered. She felt bad for the way she hurt Aaron, but she felt that it was best, because it wasn't fair for her to stay with him when she wasn't in love with him anymore. She was so pleased that he didn't yell or scream, she was a little surprised at all how calm he was, but she would take it. She walked over to Mitch and Scott's apartment and knocked. Mitch answered and said, "Did Aaron come home yet?"

Kirstie nodded and hugged Mitch's neck and said, "It's done."

Scott came over to the door and said, "Kirstie, Mitch told me about you and Aaron, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you two."

Kirstie smiled and said, "Thanks Scott."

Kirstie went over to the couch and sat down as Mitch and Scott came over and sat by her. Mitch said, "So, what are you going to do now, with the apartment?"

"Well, Aaron is going to stay there and live there. I'm going to see if I can get back into my loft apartment or another apartment somewhere," Kirstie said.

"But, your loft apartment is four blocks over," Mitch said with a frown.

"It'll be okay, Mitch, we can walk four blocks," Scott teased.

"Are you staying with Aaron until you find out? Won't that be awkward? You can stay here." Mitch said looking over at Scott for approval.

Scott agreed and said, "Yea, you can stay here, Kirst, until you find a place."

"Guys, that's really sweet, but where am I going to sleep?" Kirstie said.

"You can sleep with me," Mitch said, and then laughed at how that sounded and said, "I mean, we can share the bed, we aren't going to do anything."

Kirstie laughed out loud and said, "Thanks Mitch, I needed that laugh. I'll think about it, okay."

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Chap 5 – New Beginning

Kirstie went to the studio and saw Phil who runs it and he agreed to let her come in and work on some music, he loved Pentatonix and always let them use the studio whenever they needed too. Kirstie went into the studio and loved the peace and quiet of it. She was there for a little while when her phone lit up; it was a text from Scott. She glanced at it, 'K-You want some dinner? Mitch and I are going to get some food, just didn't know if you were coming back to the apartment tonight?'

She typed, 'Yea, I'll be back in a little while; I'll grab some stuff from my apartment and then be over. I've been at the studio.'

She heard a voice behind her and turned to see Avi. Avi walked up to her and said, "Hey Kirstie, I heard about you and Aaron. I'm so sorry; I figured you might be here."

Kirstie smiled and said, "Thanks Avi, how did you know that I was here though?"

"Well, Mitch said that you weren't home and I know where you like to go when you need some peace and quiet," Avi responded.

"I'm leaving soon, I've been here for a little while," Kirstie said standing.

"You don't have to leave on my count, I just didn't know if you needed a friend to talk too?" Avi said with a genuine look towards her.

"I think that I'm kinda over talking about me right now, talk to me about you. How are you and Grace doing?" Kirstie asked.

"We are doing okay," Avi replied feeling guilty for the feelings he was feeling about Kirstie right now. He loved Grace, but he also loved Kirstie.

Kirstie could tell that Avi was thinking about something and said, "Avi, what's on your mind, you look like you are a million miles away."

"I'm not, I'm here with you. I'm just thinking of you, Kirstie, that's all," Avi said.

Kirstie felt her cheeks warm at the comment and smiled and looked down at the floor. She used to like Avi a while back, but she also didn't really know where things were going to head with Scott now that she and Aaron were over. She was feeling like her younger self at the moment torn between Scott and Avi, although they never knew that she was at the time. Avi looked over at her and said, "Now you are the one who looks like you are a million miles away."

Kirstie looked over at Avi and laughed, "Well, I'm going to go over to Mitch and Scott's apartment, you want to come?"

"Sure, I can come, you want a lift? I drove over here after dropping Grace off." Avi asked.

"Yea, okay." Kirstie said grabbing her stuff and heading out the door.

Avi jumped in front and grabbed the door for Kirstie and headed outside as they both waved goodbye at Phil. Avi and Kirstie walked up to his car and Avi pulled the door opened for Kirstie and she said, "Thanks."

He walked around and got in and started up the car. Kirstie turned to Avi and said, "You are so sweet, I hope Grace knows that."

Avi smiled and said, "Thanks Kirstie."

They headed down the street and Kirstie went to turn the music on and saw that it was on Say Something, the version that the band covered. She turned to Avi and said, "Listening to old tunes?"

"I love this song, you did so great on it," Avi said reaching for her hand.

Kirstie's heart skipped a beat a little bit as Avi held her hand and she slowly pulled it away and Avi noticed and said, "Sorry."

"It's okay, I just don't want to do anything that I shouldn't be doing since you are with Grace," Kirstie said wanting to be honest with Avi.

Avi thought about this and wondered if this meant that Kirstie wanted to do something if Grace was not in the picture. He was feeling confused lately because of the feelings that were resurfacing with Kirstie. He took a deep breath and said, "I wasn't going to do anything."

"I know, I'm sorry, I don't want you to think that I thought that you were going to do something, sorry, Avi, you'll have to forgive me, I'm a little out of sorts tonight?" Kirstie said.

Avi patted Kirstie's arm and said, "It's okay, Kirst, we all have our days like that."

They arrived at the apartment complex and Kirstie said, "I just need to grab some things from my apartment, meet you over there."

"Okay, you want me to come with you?" Avi asked.

"Uh, sure, okay. It might be less awkward if someone is there." Kirstie said.

She walked over to the apartment and knocked and Aaron answered and said, "Hey."

"I just need to grab a bag of stuff and then I'll be gone, okay?" Kirstie said as she walked in with Avi coming in after her.

Aaron looked at Avi and said, "Hey Avi, how's it going?"

Avi smiled slightly and nodded and said, "Hey Aaron."

Kirstie quickly went to the bedroom and was surprised to see a lot of boxes sitting on the floor with her name on them. She came out and asked Aaron, "You started packing up my stuff already?"

"Yea, not everything, just some books and stuff like that, don't worry, I didn't touch your personal items, clothes, or stuff like that," Aaron said sincerely.

Kirstie said, "Oh, okay, I guess, thanks." She turned back and grabbed some clothes, makeup, personal stuff, shoes, and other things that she might need for a few days.

Aaron and Avi sat in the living room awkwardly and waited for Kirstie to finish packing. Aaron turned to Avi and said, "So, where is she staying tonight?"

Avi said, "Um, I think that she's staying over at Mitch and Scott's."

"I figured that would be where she would run too, it's always going to come down to those two guys in her life, you know, she just has such a connection with them both." Aaron said.

Avi just listened; he knew there was some truth to what Aaron was saying. Kirstie came out of the bedroom with a couple of bags and Avi stood and reached for them. Kirstie gave them to Avi and said, "Avi, can I have a minute with Aaron?"

Avi nodded and said, "I'll meet you over there, okay."

"Okay," Kirstie said.

Kirstie turned to Aaron after Avi left and said, "Thank you for being nice about everything."

"Did you expect me to be a jerk?" Aaron asked.

"Yea, kinda," Kirstie said.

"So, you are going over to Mitch and Scott's?" Aaron asked.

"Yea, I just thought that it would be weird to stay here, you know," Kirstie replied back.

"Did you get in your old loft?" Aaron asked.

"I tried to call, but left a message. Hopefully, I'll have a place soon," Kirstie said.

"Let me know if you need anything, okay." Aaron said.

"Okay, talk to you later, Aaron," Kirstie said. She walked outside and saw Avi standing there waiting for her. She smiled and said, "You waited for me, you could have gone."

Avi shook his head, "Not a chance, Kirstie, that's what friends do, we wait on one another."

Kirstie and Avi walked into Mitch and Scott's apartment and saw them in the kitchen. Scott turned and saw Avi standing there with Kirstie's stuff and was a little confused by it and said, "Hey Avi, what's going on?"

Avi noticed a little tone in Scott's voice and said, "I was just helping Kirstie, that's all."

Scott smiled and said, "Sure, of course."

Avi looked over at Kirstie and said, "Where do you want your stuff?"

Mitch pointed to his bedroom and said, "She's sleeping in there."

Kirstie said, "Just put it here, Avi, that's fine. Thanks. Guys, I'm okay sleeping out here on the couch, okay."

"Whatever Kirstie, you are not going to sleep on the couch," Scott said laughing and heading into the kitchen.

"We got some pizza, come eat guys," Mitch said as he walked into the kitchen.

Avi said, "I had dinner earlier with Grace, I'm okay, thanks though. I think that I'm going to head home."

"Really, you can't stay?" Kirstie asked.

"I should be going, I'll see y'all tomorrow at rehearsal, okay?" Avi said.

Kirstie walked up to Avi and hugged him and said, "Thanks for everything, Avi."

"I don't feel like I did anything," Avi said.

"You were there," Kirstie said smiling as she pulled away.

Avi waved over at Mitch and Scott and headed out to his apartment with Kevin.

Mitch looked over at Kirstie and smirked, "Okay, what was that about?"

Kirstie laughed and said, "Mitch, you are so crazy with your facial expressions, it was nothing. And by the way, I'm sleeping on the couch. End of discussion."

Scott shook his head and said, "Um, no. That's not happening, sorry Kirst. If I have to pick you up while you are sleeping and place you into a bed, I'll do it. You are going to sleep in my bed and I'm going to sleep on the couch."

Kirstie looked at Scott and just smiled and said, "Fine, okay."

Mitch said, "If I fall asleep out here, will you pick me up and carry me to my bed?"

Kirstie laughed and then they all laughed. Kirstie must have been starving because she ate two pieces of pizza before she even realized it. "Thanks for getting some food, guys; I guess I was starving."

"Where did you go and where did you meet up with Avi?" Mitch asked knowing that Scott wanted to know as well.

Kirstie said, "I just went to the studio and then Avi showed up. He said he knew that I would be there."

Scott noticed a small smile when Kirstie said Avi's name and he wondered about that. He knew that Kirstie wasn't going to do anything with Avi as long as Grace was with him, but he couldn't help but feel like he should act quickly if he stood any chance to be with Kirstie.

Kirstie yawned and said, "I'm so tired, I'm just going to go sit down in the living room, okay."

Mitch and Scott finished up their food and headed into the living room and Kirstie had started watching American Ninja Warrior. They all sat and watched and were all amazed at the talent of these people. After the show was over, Mitch looked over and laughed, "Look who fell asleep?"

Scott looked over and saw Kirstie resting her head slightly on Mitch's shoulder while she was sleeping. He smiled and Mitch said, "Okay, I'm going to try and get up without her falling face first into the couch."

Mitch slowly got up and held onto Kirstie and then placed her gently on the couch as Scott headed into his bedroom and get his bed ready. He quickly looked around the room and cleaned up his dirty clothes and put those away. He came back out to the living room and saw Mitch cover Kirstie with a blanket and whispered, "What are you doing? I was going to bring her in my room."

"Oh, you were serious about that?" Mitch said.

"Yes, that couch is so uncomfortable to sleep on, she shouldn't sleep on that." Scott said walking over to Kirstie.

"Awe, look at you," Mitch said teasingly.

"Mitch, stop it," Scott said with a smile.

Mitch smiled and headed out of the living room into his room and said, "Good night, lover boy."

"Night Mitch, see you in the morning," Scott said.

Scott looked down at Kirstie and slowly reached down and picked her up, which was easy do to for him. He slowly pulled her up into his arms and she turned into him and he walked over to his room and gently placed her on the bed. She curled onto her side and he covered her with the blanket and leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. He started to leave and she said, "Scott."

He turned surprised to hear his name and that she was awake and said, "Yes."

"You don't have to sleep out on the couch, just sleep in here. It'll be okay." Kirstie said.

"Kirstie, did I wake you up?" Scott asked walking over to the bed.

"No, I don't know, I just woke up a minute ago, I guess when I came in here and you placed me down on the bed. I don't even remember falling asleep. But, seriously, we are grown adults, you can sleep on that side and I'll sleep on this side. There's no reason for you to sleep out there when you can sleep right here." Kirstie said with a yawn.

Scott said, "Okay, I'll be back in a few."

Scott went to the living room and put everything away and turned off the TV. He walked into the kitchen and put up all the trash. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get some water and headed back into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He noticed that Kirstie was now in an oversized t-shirt and realized that it was one of his that he had.

"Nice shirt," he said.

"Well, all of my stuff is in the living room and this was just right here. I need to go brush my teeth, though." Kirstie said as she headed out of the bedroom to the bathroom.

Scott tried not to look at her when she got out of bed, but couldn't help it; she was so beautiful to him. He quickly got ready for bed and got in on the other side of the bed. Kirstie came back in after several minutes and she got in bed and said, "So, is this normally your side over here?"

Scott turned towards her and said, "Yea, but that's okay."

"We can switch sides if you want, you should have your usual side." Kirstie said turning towards Scott.

"It's okay, you can sleep there." Scott said looking at her trying his best to remain calm and breathe.

Kirstie looked at Scott and couldn't believe that she was in Scott's bed about to go to sleep. She finally said, "Okay."

Scott smiled and then turned on his back and closed his eyes and Kirstie turned on her back and looked at the ceiling. She leaned over and turned off the light and leaned back onto the bed. The room was so dark, she didn't like sleeping in pitch black rooms and leaned towards Scott and said, "Uh, Scott."

He felt her close by and said, "What's up?"

"Um, I don't really know how to say this, but I don't really like pitch black rooms," Kirstie said.

"Oh yea, hold on a second," Scott said leaning over and reaching over Kirstie and clicking on a small little lamp on her side of the bed.

Kirstie saw the soft light and then realized that Scott was leaning over her and he was directly over her at this moment. They looked at each other and Scott looked at Kirstie's mouth and then her eyes and felt like he did earlier today when Kirstie was in his arms. He felt that this was his chance. "Kirstie," he said almost asking.

Kirstie looked at him and said, "Yea."

"Can I kiss you?" Scott asked.

Kirstie was surprised by the question and smiled and in this moment and all she could do was nod. Scott bent towards her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He placed a hand gently on her cheek and moved it to her lips and brushed his thumb over her mouth and then reached his hand behind her head and gently and leaned closer to her and kissed her softly. Kirstie was taken aback by the kiss and realized how much she wanted this too. She brought her arms up and placed them around Scott's waist and pulled him towards her and his breath quicken. They kissed for a little bit and then broke free. Kirstie, feeling flushed, smiled and said, "Wow."

Scott laughed and said, "Wow is a good word for that."

Kirstie looked over at Scott and said, "What brought that on?"

"Just felt like doing that for a while now, I guess." Scott said looking back at Kirstie.

"We should get some sleep," Kirstie said wondering if it was possible to sleep now.

Scott stared at her and smiled and said, "Okay, good night Kirstie."

"Night Scotty," Kirstie said smiling.

They both leaned back on their backs and closed their eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Chp 6 – Awkward Morning

Mitch was up bright and early and he headed out into the living room. He fed Wyatt and saw that the couch was empty, so he assumed that Scott was out getting Starbucks for everyone. After feeding Wyatt, he headed into his bedroom to get ready for the day. After a little while, he headed back into the living room and started watching some TV. He was right in the middle of a SpongeBob episode when someone knocked on the front door. He went to answer the door and was surprised to see Esther and Grace standing there. He smiled and said, "Good Morning Ladies, come on in."

Esther and Grace walked in and Esther said, "Is Kirstie here? We wanted to talk to her if that's okay."

Mitch nodded and said, "She's still in bed right now."

Esther shot a look over at Grace and they both looked at Mitch and Grace said, "Which bed?"

Mitch said, "Scott's."

He then looked up at them and saw that Esther was about to have a complete melt down and he said, "No, no, no, Scott slept here on the couch, Kirstie slept in his bed. He's out getting coffee right now."

Esther took a breath and Grace patted her arm. Mitch laughed and said, "Esther, you okay?"

"Yea, just need to talk to Kirstie. I might just see if she's awake if you don't mind," Esther said walking over to Scott's door.

Mitch smiled and said, "Fine by me, but it may not be so fine with Kirstie, have you woken her up from her sleep before?"

Grace said, "Esther, we can come back, maybe it's not a good time."

Mitch was very curious as to what they needed to talk to Kirstie about, he really wanted to know.

Esther said, "No, I need to talk to her Gracie, that's why we came over here."

Grace nodded in agreement and said, "Okay, let's go."

Esther walked into Scott's room and saw Kirstie sleeping on his bed and she felt herself cringe at the thought that another woman was in Scott's bed. Then she saw Scott's arm draped over Kirstie's and that's when Esther screamed.

"Scott Hoying, how could you!" Esther yelled.

Scott and Kirstie both jumped up and were startled. Kirstie looked over at the door and saw Esther and Grace standing there. Grace was leaning around Esther as Esther stood with her arms crossed. This was the most angriest she had ever seen Esther. She was looking at Kirstie like Kirstie was the other woman or something. Then Mitch came running into the bedroom. Esther, Grace, and Mitch looked at Kirstie, who was now sitting up in bed with the blanket over her. They couldn't miss seeing that Kirstie was in Scott's favorite t-shirt, he never let anyone borrow it, so they thought. Scott was sitting up now also on the bed and was shirtless. He leaned over and grabbed a tank top and threw it on. Scott stood up from the bed and walked towards his door and said, "Everyone out, please. We will continue this discussion in the living room."

Scott headed out of the bedroom and watched as Esther, Grace, and Mitch walked out of the bedroom, he looked at Kirstie and mouthed, 'I'm sorry."

Scott headed into the living room and looked sternly at Esther and said, "What were you doing in my room, Esther?"

"I could ask you the same question, but I have a feeling I already know the answer. Kirstie was supposed to be in there alone; I wanted to talk to her. But, I think that my questions have all been answered, come on, Gracie, let's go." Esther said leaving as tears streamed down her face.

Scott watched Esther leave the apartment with Gracie trailing behind her and he looked at Mitch and said, "Why did you tell her to come in there?"

"I didn't know that you and Kirstie were in there together, I thought that you were out getting Starbucks for us. Sorry about that, I promise, if I knew that you two, slept together, I mean, slept in there last night, I would have never told Esther to go in there," Mitch said.

Kirstie threw herself onto the bed and covered her face with the pillow. She felt so bad for Esther, Esther looked so hurt. Kirstie didn't want to hurt her, but Esther and Scott weren't together anymore. She thought that Esther must still have some pretty strong feelings for Scott still. She was hoping for some time to explore this new found relationship with Scott before everyone knew that they kissed, too late for that now. Now, everyone will know in a matter of a few minutes, she thought to herself.

Mitch looked over at Scott and said, "Sorry, I'm going to go get some Starbucks, see y'all in a little bit, okay. Tell Kirstie, I'm sorry too."

Scott smiled and said, "It's fine, no worries, you didn't know."

"So, are you two together now?" Mitch asked.

"No questions right now, okay Mitchy," Scott said as he walked back towards the bedroom.

Mitch left the apartment and pulled the door shut behind him and headed out to get coffee. He felt so bad for Scott and Kirstie and Esther as well. He was surprised that Scott and Kirstie slept together, but not really.

Scott walked over to the bed and laid down beside Kirstie and said, "Well, that was awkward."

Kirstie took the pillow off her face and hit Scott with it playfully and said, "You think?"

He grabbed the pillow before it could land and he tossed it back at her.

She turned towards him and said, "Esther was really upset."

"Yea, she was, I'll talk to her later, but after she calms down first." Scott said.

"You know everyone will know soon," Kirstie said.

"Yea, so much for keeping this quiet for a little bit," Scott said.

Esther and Grace walked down the hallway and Esther said, "I bet Aaron has no clue that Kirstie and Scott are together, I'm going to tell him."

"No, don't get involved, Esther. You are upset right now and you just need to calm down first," Grace said.

"Fine, I won't tell Aaron, but if he asks me, I won't lie. I need to go see my brother," Esther said.

Grace and Esther walked up to Avi and Kevin's apartment (in the same complex) and knocked on the door. Grace was happy to see Avi answer the door and gave him a hug and whispered in his ear, "Esther is pissed, be careful what you say."

Avi kissed Grace on the cheek and saw his sister and how upset she was and asked, "What's wrong, sis?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong, I was going to go talk to Kirstie this morning and you told me that she was staying with Mitch and Scott last night, right. Well, I walked in and found her in bed with Scott!" Esther said with more tears coming down her face. Avi looked at Esther and then Grace and saw that this was true and couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took a step back and headed into the living room. He was mad too, but couldn't show it in front of Grace. How could Scott take advantage of Kirstie right when she just broke up with her boyfriend yesterday? Maybe, they have been together for a while and this was just the first time they were caught? Grace looked at Avi and said, "What's going on in that head of yours? You are really thinking about this."

"It just makes me mad, because, because of Esther. I hate that she's so hurt by this," Avi said.

"How could Scott do this to her?" he added.

Kevin came into the room and greeted everyone and saw Avi's and Esther's faces and knew something was wrong. Grace filled him in on everything that happened. Kevin said, "There has to be an explanation guys."

"I doubt it," Esther said.

They all walked into the living room and sat down and Grace pulled Avi aside and said, "We need to talk now, Avi."

"Is now a really such a good time for a talk, Gracie," Avi said.

"Perfect time, let's go. Esther, we will be right back." Grace said as they walked to Avi's room. Grace walked in and Avi shut the door behind them and said, "What is it?"

"You tell me, what is going on with you lately? Last night at dinner, you were acting so strange and this morning, the same thing. You have been acting weird every time that Scott and Kirstie get brought up? Why? Do you like her or something?"

Avi felt attacked with questions and said, "That's a lot of questions, Gracie."

"Well, I need an answer, do you like Kirstie?" Grace said not knowing if she wanted to hear the truth or not.

"Gracie, are you seriously asking me that? Let's go back out to the living room." Avi said not ready for this talk. He couldn't tell Grace that he was starting to have feelings for Kirstie again, not after all this time. She wouldn't understand where it was all coming from. He needed to figure his feelings out for himself first. Right now, he was pissed at Scott, or he was jealous, he wasn't sure which.

"Yes, Avi, I'm seriously asking you this question and I feel like with your reaction, I'm getting an answer to my question," Grace said now with a tear streaming down her face.

"Gracie, you know that you are my world, stop crying," Avi said walking over to her.

"Why can't you just answer the question, then," Grace said.

"Because it's a ridiculous question," Avi said gently.

Grace looked at Avi and seemed satisfied at the moment even though Avi never said anything to her, that bothered her, but she would try and not let it. Avi and Grace headed out of the apartment and saw Kevin sitting alone on the couch. Avi looked around the room and asked Kevin, "Where's Esther?"

"She said that she would be right back, that she wanted to go talk to Aaron," Kevin said.

"Oh no," Avi and Grace both said.

Esther stood at Aaron's door and knocked. She didn't know exactly why she wanted Aaron to know, but felt that he had a right to know that his ex-girlfriend was sleeping with her best friend and who knows for how long. She was hurt and angry and upset, and she wasn't really thinking clearly at the moment. She was surprised by a hand on her shoulder and it was Mitch. She turned and Mitch asked, "Um, Esther, what are you about to do?"

"Mitch, stay away, I'm telling Aaron everything," Esther said.

"You can't, you don't even know the situation," Mitch said.

"I bet they have been sleeping together for years, we just happened to find out today," Esther said.

"No, they haven't," Mitch said quietly.

"How do you know, you didn't even know that Scott was at home," Esther said.

"Yea, but I know Kristie and I know Scott, and they would never cheat on someone. Last time I checked, you were not with Scott and Aaron was not with Kirstie. They were both single adults, Esther." Mitch said.

"It doesn't matter, there's a thing called the girl code, you don't mess with exes," Esther said.

Aaron opened the door and was yawning and said, "What's up Mitch, hey Esther."

Mitch said, "Nothing, we didn't mean to bother you, see you later, Aaron."

Mitch pulled Esther's arm and she pulled it away and looked at Aaron and said, "You should ask Kirstie where she slept last night, I'm sure that you'll be just as upset as I am right now."

"Esther!" Mitch said.

Aaron not fully understanding shook his head and watched them head back down the hallway. Mitch turned to look at Aaron who was standing there and then went back into the apartment. Once the door shut, Mitch turned to Esther and said, "Why would you do that?"

"Because Mitch, I'm hurt, I'm upset, I want to hurt Kirstie like she hurt me," Esther said.

"This isn't you, you aren't this girl. You are a sweet, kind, caring, loving person. Kirstie is one of your best friends and so is Scott," Mitch said.

"I don't think that I would say best friend anymore," Esther said walking back to Avi and Kevin's apartment.

Aaron pulled out his phone and called Kirstie. Kirstie leaned over and picked up the phone and said, "It's Aaron, should I answer it?"

Scott shrugged, "It's up to you."

She answered the phone and said, "Hey Aaron."

"Kirstie, this is a strange question, but where are you right now?"

"In bed still, it's early, I'm trying to sleep," yawned Kirstie.

"Did Esther see you this morning at all? Because she came here to see me," Aaron asked cautiously.

Kirstie covered the phone and said, "Oh my God, Esther went and told Aaron about this morning."

Scott's eyes widened and he said, "Good grief, this is turning into such a mess."

Kirstie returned to the phone, "Look, Aaron, it's not what you think, okay."

Aaron cut her off and said, "Was that Scott that just spoke to you, because I just heard what you said to him and what he said to you. Kirstie, you slept with Scott last night, didn't you? Wait, I don't want to know, wow, Kirstie, I would say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Bye."

Aaron hung up the phone and Kirstie sat there with the phone in her lap. She dropped back down onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head and said, "Tell me when today is over, Scott."

"I hate to break it to you, but we have rehearsal today, so put on your brave face," Scott said.


	7. Chapter 7

Chp 7 – Can we just sing?

"You ready to go, Kirstie?" Scott asked as he was grabbing his keys and a coffee to go. Kirstie came out of the bedroom and said, "Do we have to go, it's going to be so awkward with Esther there, do you think she's going to be there?"

"Yea, I think that she'll be there, but it has been hours since this morning, maybe she's cooled down, I tried to call her, but she didn't answer," Scott said looking at his phone one last time.

"Okay, let's get this over with, I'm sure by now, everyone knows," Kirstie said.

"What exactly do they know, Kirst, do we even know?" Scott asked with a smile.

"I know, right, we kissed, but I don't really want to dive into a relationship right now because I just ended one with Aaron. I wouldn't mind seeing where things go, I do like you," Kirstie said as she walked up to Scott and hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

Scott smiled and said, "I like you too and I can take things slow, I completely understand you not wanting to rush into anything."

They headed out the door and headed towards Scott's car and saw Aaron in the parking lot. Aaron was coming back from the store and had a bag of groceries in his hand. He looked up at Kirstie and then saw Scott standing behind her and he glared at him.

Kirstie said, "Aaron, can we talk?"

"No, I don't really want to talk to you right now, Kirstie, aren't you late for rehearsal anyway?" Aaron asked.

"No, not yet, Aaron, we need to talk, okay, please," Kirstie said.

Scott got in his car and started it and began to look at his phone again while Kirstie stood outside talking to Aaron. Scott would look up causally every now and then, but didn't want to seem like he was trying to eavesdrop or anything.

Kirstie walked over to Aaron and said, "It was a misunderstanding, this morning, okay."

"Which part, you sleeping with Scott last night after we broke up, or wait, what was the misunderstanding?" Aaron said upset.

"I didn't sleep with Scott last night, not that it's any of your business. Yes, I slept in his bed, but we didn't do anything," Kirstie said.

"You didn't do anything?" Aaron asked almost relieved.

"Let's just say, it was very PG, okay. Esther just walked in on something she thought was going on," Kirstie said.

"So, you did do something with him, did you kiss him?" Aaron asked looking over at Scott in his car.

"Yes, okay, we kissed. But, that's all," Kirstie said.

Aaron looked at Kirstie and then at Scott and then back at Kirstie and said, "You don't even see it, do you?"

"See what?" Kirstie asked.

"You are going to break his heart just like you broke mine," Aaron said.

Kirstie felt the words sting her and it hurt more than she wanted it too.

"Why would you say something like that?" Kirstie asked choking down her tears.

"It's the truth, Kirstie, sometimes the truth hurts," Aaron said.

"Sometimes lies hurt more, Aaron," Kirstie said turning around and jumping in Scott's car and watching Aaron walk away.

Scott looked over at Kirstie and asked, "You okay?"

"No, he's so mean, he told me that I was going to break your heart like I broke his," Kirstie said.

"Don't let his words upset you, he doesn't know what he's talking about, Kirst, okay," Scott said pulling her over into a hug.

They hugged for a little bit and then Scott said, "Okay, so we might be late to rehearsal if we don't leave now."

"Okay, let's go, I guess," Kirstie said.

Grace and Avi weren't speaking at the moment, even though they were both at the studio. Grace was in the background and Avi was trying to speak to her, "Gracie, please talk to me, okay."

"Fine, Avi, answer the question and I will," Grace said.

"Oh my goodness, you are still on this, aren't you," Avi said in a huff.

Esther came walking over and asked, "What's going on here between you two, why are you fighting, you never fight?"

Grace looked at Esther, "Tell your brother to answer my questions and we won't be fighting anymore."

Esther looked to Avi and then to Grace. Grace walked away to go talk to Mitch and Kevin who were on the other side of the room. Esther looked over at Avi who seemed very frustrated and said, "What's going on Avi?"

"She keeps asking me if I like Kirstie," Avi said quietly.

"So, tell her the truth, you don't, right?" Esther said and then saw something in Avi's eyes and threw her hand over her opened mouth and said, "No."

Avi pleaded with his sister with his eyes and said, "Esther, please."

"Since when?" Esther asked already knowing the answer to Grace's question.

Avi looked over at Grace and then at Esther and said, "I'm not discussing this with you, Esther."

"You better discuss it with someone because this is not even right to Gracie, she's so sweet, why is everyone so in love with Kirstie?" Esther said so bitter.

"Be quiet, Esther," Avi said as he walked away.

Kirstie and Scott walked into rehearsal and the room stopped talking. It actually became very quiet, almost creepy. Mitch broke the silence and came over and said, "Hey you two, ready for rehearsal?"

Kirstie nodded and walked over to Esther and said, "Esther, can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?" Esther said sitting down.

"Look, I want you to know that I'm sorry if what you thought you saw this morning was hurtful, I never meant to hurt you, you are one of my best friends," Kirstie said.

"Why would you sleep with him? You knew how much I loved Scott and how much I still do," Esther said quietly trying not to look over at Scott who was walking up to the others.

"I didn't know you still loved him, I'm sorry for that. I didn't sleep with Scott. Yes, I slept in his bed, but, it wasn't what you thought this morning," Kirstie said.

"You didn't sleep together, really?" Esther said almost smiling.

"Yea, we didn't, feel better now?" Kirstie said.

Kirstie never thought that she would be discussing last night with so many people today. Was she kidding herself in thinking that Scott and she could actually date? All of these people in their lives would be hurt.

"I feel a lot better now, Kirstie, I knew you wouldn't do anything to hurt me," Esther said with a big hug.

Scott looked over and saw Esther hugging Kirstie and felt a little relief. Kevin wanting to lighten the mood said, "So, how was your night, Scott?"

Scott shot a look over at Kevin and saw that Avi was glaring at him, actually glaring. He looked at Avi and said, "What's going on, Avi?"

Avi quickly snapped out of it and said, "Nothing, nothing is wrong."

Scott walked over to Avi and pulled him aside and said, "Avi, man, what's up? I know you, what's with the look?"

"How could you? How could you after she just broke up with him, not even hours before, and you had to sleep with her," Avi said.

Scott was thrown back by this because of how stern Avi was being. Before Scott could say anything, Esther and Kirstie came over to the group and Esther announced to the group, "I'm so sorry guys, I was wrong. They didn't sleep together last night, it was a big misunderstanding."

"Esther, did you tell everyone?" Kirstie said shocked, but not really.

"Well, sorry, I was mad and upset, oh, and I sort of ran into Aaron too," Esther said turning red.

"Yea, thanks for that," Kirstie said.

"Okay, so now that everyone is up in our business, can we just sing now?" Scott said.

Avi looked at the floor and smiled, he was relieved. Avi looked over at Kirstie and felt like there was still a small chance for him, maybe. He then looked over at Grace who was staring him down. He knew that he was going to have to talk to Grace about everything sooner or later.


	8. Chapter 8

Chp 8 – Stolen Kiss

The group sang a couple of songs and then tried a new arrangement. Meanwhile, Esther and Grace were off on the side sitting and talking. They were on the other side of the room, so no one could hear them speaking.  
"You have to tell me what Avi said to you, it's very important to me, Esther. I am your best friend and your roommate; please tell me, do I need to be worried about my relationship?" Grace said as she looked over at Avi who was looking at the ground and not making any eye contact with her whatsoever, which is not the norm.  
Esther frowned, "Gracie, I think it's best if you speak with Avi about this, I don't really feel comfortable speaking with you about it. All I know is that you need to speak to Avi about it."  
"That tells me that there is something, look at me Esther, does he like her?" Grace asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer, but knew that she must know if she was going to move forward in her relationship with Avi. She loved Avi, but she didn't want to be with him if he cared for someone else.  
"Yes," whispered Esther, so low, that she hoped that no one heard, she had already gotten something stirred up today for overreacting, so she was very careful as to what she was saying to Grace, her best friend. Esther didn't hear any response, so she looked up and all she could see were tear-filled eyes. She placed her arm on Grace's shoulder and Grace pulled away, not wanting to be touched at the moment. She cleared her throat and stood up, "Is this true?"  
Esther nodded and then regretted it because she was not expecting what came next. Grace got her things from the chair and went over to where the group was still singing and walked right up to Avi, tears now falling from her eyes. The group stopped as Grace entered the circle and Avi looked at Grace and said, "What's wrong?"  
"We are over, Avi," Grace choked out.  
Avi stood there in shock and said, "Let's talk about this outside, okay?"  
At this time, Mitch, Scott, Kevin, and Kristie all started walking away slowly as they did not want to be standing there witnessing this moment, as they felt bad enough just standing there. Grace stopped Kirstie by holding her arm out and said, "Kirstie, you might as well stay right here, this has something to do with you."

"What are you talking about Gracie?" Kirstie asked completely confused.  
"No! Not here, not now, we are going outside, " Avi said pulling Grace out the door gently.  
Once outside, Grace pulled away from Avi and stared at him with her arms folded in front of her.  
"Where is this coming from, we were doing so great," Avi said pleading.  
"I think that it's time that you are honest with yourself, Avi, I know you, and I know you more than you think that I know you. You are different now, you have changed. And I know that you like Kirstie, yes, I finally got the answer to my question. I know that you didn't want to hurt me and that is why you wouldn't answer me, but I started thinking about it and if it was as simple as just saying, no, you would have said it a long time ago. I confirmed my thoughts once Esther confirmed your feelings."  
"Esther!" shouted Avi.  
"It's not her fault; I basically dragged it out of her. But, she didn't have to say much, just confirm what I already knew to be true. I can't believe you, Avi. You say you love me, but how can you like her too?" cried Grace.  
"I don't know, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. You have to know that I love you," Avi said looking very sincerely at Grace.

Back inside, Esther starting packing up her things because she wanted to get out of there before Avi returned. Kirstie walked over to Esther and said, "What's going on? Why did she say this has something to do with me?"  
"Kirstie, you have to know how Avi feels about you, right," Esther said, not realizing her voice was carrying over to the other guys across the room. They stopped whispering and looked in the direction of Esther and Kirstie. Scott started heading towards them. Kirstie was confused now more than before, how Avi felt about her? How did Avi feel about her? She looked at Esther and shook her head and said, "What are you talking about?"  
"Wow, you really don't know, do you? Well, I'm done telling people things today, you should talk to Avi," Esther said.  
Kirstie just looked at her and watched her leave the studio, but not before Avi came back inside alone. He looked so defeated and Kirstie felt so bad for him. She walked up to him and asked, "You ok, Avi?"  
He looked at Kirstie, who had such concern in her face, and he said, "Not really, Kirst, I think that I'm just going to go home."  
Avi looked over at Esther who was trying to leave and said angrily, "What is wrong with you? Why would you tell Grace?"  
"Did I lie?" Esther snapped back.  
Avi didn't say anything at first, but then said, "I was going to talk to her in my own time, and I didn't want her to know, not like this, not now."  
Esther frowned because she realized how she hurt her brother; she wasn't trying to hurt him. She was just tired of the truth not being out there. "I'm sorry, Avi," she said. Esther walked out of the studio and Avi went over to his bag and started packing it to leave.  
Kevin came over and said, "You going back home?"  
Avi nodded.  
Kevin leaned towards Avi putting his arm around him and whispered, "I think that Kirstie might want to talk to you, man. Esther said some stuff while you were outside with Grace."  
Avi sighed and sarcastically said, "Great, perfect, that's just so freaking awesome."  
Kevin leaned back and placed his hand on Avi's shoulder and said, "At least the truth is out now, you don't have to hide it any longer."  
Avi rolled his eyes at Kevin, knowing that Kevin was just trying to make him feel better. Avi stood facing the rest of the group and said, "Guys, I'll talk to you all later, okay. I'm heading home. I'm sorry for bringing my personal drama into our space today."  
"Avi, we need to talk?" Kirstie said walking up to him.  
He looked at her and he hated that she looked so confused and then he looked past her and saw Scott, who was putting it all together in his mind. He looked over at Mitch who just looked so concerned for everyone. Avi could barely take it anymore and he reached for Kirstie's arm and said, "I'm sorry Kirstie, I can't talk right now, I'll talk to you later, okay."  
"Can I walk out with you then?" Kirstie asked.  
Avi said, "Sure, that's fine. See y'all tomorrow." He waved and the others said their goodbyes.  
As soon as Avi and Kirstie headed outside, Mitch turned to Kevin and said, "Is it true?"  
Scott turned to Mitch and then to Kevin waiting for Kevin's response.

Kevin nodded and said, "Yea, I've known for a little bit, but yea, Avi's has been crushing on Kirstie pretty bad. He really likes her and I guess Grace just found out about it as well as Kirstie, well almost. I don't think that Kirstie knew anything about it."

Scott face was stunned. Mitch's eyes widened and Kevin realized that he had just said all of this in front of Scott who was currently in the starts of a new relationship with Kirstie. Kevin said, "Scott, you okay?"  
Looking down at the ground, Scott sighed, "I didn't even know that Avi liked Kirstie, how is this possible? He is in love with Grace."  
"He has been struggling with it; he didn't want to hurt anyone. I think it's because she broke up with Aaron, I don't know. But, how is this going to work with two members of the band liking the same member?" Kevin said.  
"I don't even know," Scott said.  
Mitch quickly added, "It'll work out, guys, we just have to take it a day at a time, okay."

Outside, Avi and Kirstie were headed towards Avi's car and Kirstie stopped short of the driver's door, blocking Avi way of getting in. Avi said, "Kirstie, let me get in my car."

"Talk to me first," Kirstie said with a small smile.

How could he resist that little smile of hers, he nodded and said, "Okay."  
"Avi, why would Grace say that earlier about it having something to do with me? Also, your sister made it seem that I knew how you felt about me, how do you feel about me? What's going on?" Kirstie asked.  
Avi leaned in and kissed her softly. It was a small kiss, but it caught Kristie off guard. Avi wrapped his arms around Kirstie's waist and pulled her close to him and hugged her.

After a minute or two, Kirstie broke free from Avi's arms asking, "Why did you kiss me?"  
" I like you, Kirstie. That's what's going on here. Grace found out from my sister. I'm coming clean, I wanted to do this a different way, but now it's all out there, I like you."  
Kirstie stood there brushing her fingers along her lips still stunned from the kiss that Avi gave her. How can her heart feel things for both Avi and Scott at the same time? She scooted over so Avi could open his door. He smiled and said, "It's not often that you are speechless, Kirst. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours."  
"You kissed me," Kirstie said eventually.  
"Yes, can I kiss you again?" Avi asked with a flirtatious smile.  
"Um, I gotta go back inside, Avi, I'll talk to you later, okay," Kirstie said feeling flush.  
Avi smiled and he was happy that he at least got to kiss Kirstie, even if it wasn't the circumstances that he wanted. Kirstie waved bye as Avi drove off and walked back inside in a daze.

She went over to the music stand and looked at the sheet music. She must have stood there for several minutes before Mitch came over and whispered, "Kirstie, you are blushing?"  
Kirstie shot a look at Mitch and touched her cheeks and said, "Am I?"  
Mitch laughed and said, "Yes, you are, what happened out there."  
"Um, I can't really talk about it," Kirstie said shooting a glance over at Scott who was heading their way.

Mitch turned and saw Scott and said, "Later, then."


	9. Chapter 9

Chp 9 – Telling the Truth

Kirstie thought a lot about the kiss from Avi on the way home from the studio and was very quiet in the car with Scott. He tried to ask her questions, but could tell that she was not here with him. He pulled into a nearby park and parked the car and turned off the car. Kirstie looked up and saw that they were in the park and turned to Scott and asked, "Why are we here?"

Sighing, Scott said, "Because you aren't here with me right now, what's going on with you? You have been out of it since earlier at the Studio."

Scott couldn't help but think that Avi likes Kirstie and he was worried that Avi told Kirstie outside and this is why she was acting so weird.

Kirstie looked into Scott's eyes and couldn't help but tell him the truth, "Avi told me he liked me."

"I figured it was something like that, is that all?" Scott asked.

"No," Kirstie quietly said looking down at her folded hands.

Scott reached for her hand and said, "What is it?"

"Avi kissed me," Kirstie said looking up into his eyes and added, "I'm sorry."

Scott pulled his hand back and looked out towards the park and sat silently for a few minutes. Kirstie could feel the tension and the awkwardness grow between them. After a few minutes, Kirstie looked over at Scott and asked, "Will you say something?"

Scott looked over and his face looked defeated and his eyes showed all of his hurt. He said, "Did you kiss him back?"

Kirstie dropped her face and Scott added, "So, where does that leave us?"

"I don't know, I like you so much Scott, but if I am being honest with myself, I have feelings for Avi too. I know that sounds completely crazy, but it's the truth. I didn't mean to kiss him, he caught me off guard, and I wasn't expecting it. It was just a little kiss," Kirstie said.

"You have feelings for Avi?" Scott asked looking more hurt if that was possible.

Kirstie knew that this was not going to be easy, but she was glad that she was being honest with Scott. The last thing that she wanted was to lie to Scott, he was her best friend, and she had such strong feelings for him too.

Scott then said, "Okay, okay. You have feelings for me and you have feelings for Avi, what do you want me to do about this?"

Kirstie shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know, Scotty, I am just trying to be completely honest with you."

"Did you tell Avi the same thing?" Scott asked annoyed.

"No, he has no idea that I have feelings for him," Kirstie said.

Scott felt some relief in this news as maybe her feelings were stronger for Scott than Avi. Maybe he still had a chance. "Are you going to tell him?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. I want to figure things out first for myself, it's not fair for you or Avi or to me if I don't figure things out," Kirstie said hoping that Scott would understand where she was coming from.

Scott sighed and said, "Thank you for being honest with me, I'll be honest with you now." He turned to where he was facing her and looked her in the eyes and said, "I like you Kirstie, I really like you, I can give you time and space if you need it. I don't think that we should kiss anymore until you have figured out things; I'm about to start sharing you with Avi, so if it's him you choose, fine. But, if for some small chance that it's me you choose, then nothing would make me happier."

"Thank you Scott for being so understanding about this, I just feel like everything's happening so fast, I just broke up with Aaron and I never knew that you liked me or Avi, so it's a lot to take in right now." Kirstie said.

"I'll try and be understanding, but can you try and not kiss Avi until you figure things out?" Scott asked with a small smile.

"Yes, that I can promise you, I do plan on talking to him, but nothing more," Kirstie said.

"Okay, can I still punch Avi though?" Scott asked jokingly.

"Scott, that's not funny," Kirstie said already feeling like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

"So, are you going to talk to Gracie?" Scott asked.

Kirstie shot a look over to Scott of panic, "I wasn't planning on it, she wouldn't understand."

"And you thought that I would?" Scott asked.

"I know you a lot better than her, I've known you for years and you would understand anything I told you," Kirstie said.

"Not everything," Scott said thinking if she ever chose Avi over him or did more than just kiss Avi.

Kirstie looked at Scott and said, "What wouldn't you understand?"

"Nothing, let's not think about it right now, but know that Avi and Esther are brother and sister and most likely he will tell her anyway." Scott said.

"Great, that means that Gracie will know soon, if she doesn't already know. How did things get so mixed up in my personal life so quickly?" Kirstie asked.

Scott started up the car and headed back to the apartment and Kirstie and Scott walked in to find Mitch on the couch watching SpongeBob petting Wyatt in his lap. Wyatt purred quietly and Mitch looked up at Scott and Kirstie and knew that they had a serious talk by the way they were walking and looking at him. There was space between them unlike earlier today where there was literally no space between them. Scott walked over and sat next to Mitch and Wyatt jumped over to his lap and Scott rubbed Wyatt's ears a little bit. Mitch looked over at Scott who seemed defeated and then over at Kirstie who sat in a nearby chair. She sighed and said, "I might as well tell Mitch because he'll hear from the both of us anyway."

Scott looked up and honestly said, "Well, you can tell him, I don't know if I want to listen to all of it again, if that's okay with you."

Scott stood up still holding Wyatt and went into his bedroom and they both heard the door shut quietly. Mitch turned to Kirstie and asked, "Okay, he's being weird, what's going on Kirst?"

Kirstie explained everything to Mitch and afterwards Mitch said, "Wow, Kirstie, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, I really lov-, I mean, like Scott and I have feelings for-"Kirstie started.

"Back up there a second, girlfriend, do you love Scott?" Mitch asked quietly.

"I didn't mean to say that, Mitchie," Kirstie said with a smirk.

"Hmm, interesting," Mitch said teasingly.

"But seriously, you need to decide soon what you are going to do," Mitch added.

"I know, I know." Kirstie said.


	10. Chapter 10

Chp 10 – Next Day

Avi tossed and turned all night thinking about Kirstie and Gracie. He was shocked that he kissed Kirstie and told her how he felt. He was sort of proud of himself; it was something that he wanted to do for years. He felt horrible for Gracie and still loved her, but he also really liked Kirstie and that was something that he could not hide away in his heart any longer. He really wanted to talk to Kirstie again, but didn't know when. She was staying over at Scott and Mitch's. He pulled out his phone and saw that it was only 6:11AM. He rolled back over to his pillow and tried to go to sleep and then he heard his phone buzz. He glanced over at the text message from Grace, 'Can we talk?'

Avi thought about it and texted back, 'You sure you want too?'

(Grace Bold, Avi plain)

**Yes, I want to talk, well, text.**

Ok.

**I'm sorry about how I handled things; I should have spoken to you privately. That was not right of me to do that in front of everyone.**

I wish you would have done that in private.

**I was so upset and after Esther confirmed that you liked Kirstie, I lost it. Can you be honest with me and tell me now?**

Tell you what, that I still love you. Yes, I love you Gracie.

**Don't say that**.

Why.

**Because you like her, you can't love me and like her at the same time.**

I'm sorry for hurting you, Grace; I never wanted to hurt you in a million years.

**Do you think that you will ever stop liking Kirstie?**

I don't know how to answer that question without hurting you.

**Have you talked to Kirstie at all since we kind of broke up?**

It seemed pretty real to me, the whole breaking up thing.

**Did you talk to Kirstie?**

Yes.

**And?**

And what, we talked; she wanted to know why you said what you did. Why you were pulling her into our business.

**I know, that wasn't fair of me to do to Kirstie, she was so confused. **

Yes, she was.

**Are you going to try and date her now?**

I don't really want to talk about this with you right now. We just broke up yesterday and I feel that this is getting a little bit awkward.

**Do you think that you'll ever want to get back together with me? **

I think we need some time apart right now.

**I love you, Avi. More than you know. I'll talk to you later.**

Bye Gracie, I love you too.

Avi looked at the time again and it was about 6:45 now. He sat up and stretched. He got up and got ready for the day. He walked into the kitchen and started some coffee. He went over to the balcony and looked out and looked at the sunrise and smiled. He turned and saw a sluggish Kevin walking towards the coffee maker.

"Morning," Avi said towards Kevin.

"Morning," Kevin said rubbing his eyes.

"You seem really tired?" Avi asked.

"Yea, I was up pretty late, working," Kevin said as he grabbed the biggest coffee cup he could find and poured him a cup.

Avi walked over and poured a cup as well and joined Kevin at their kitchen table. Kevin looked over at Avi and said, "So, how are things today after you have had some time to think about things?"

"Confusing, I told Kirstie how I felt and I kissed her," Avi said.

"What?" Kevin asked.

"Yea, it was a spur of the moment type of thing, I'm not sure why I decided to it, I just couldn't keep it inside any longer. She was looking at me with those incredible eyes and that little smirk she does, and I just had to tell her how I felt," Avi said.

"What did she say?" Kevin asked how more awake.

"Nothing really, I really shocked her. She seemed very surprised, but she did kiss me back," Avi said.

"Scott and her have a thing, well, I don't know how much of a thing, but I know it's something," Kevin said.

"Really, I thought there was a chance he might like her, do you think that she likes him?" Avi asked.

"I don't know," Kevin asked and then said, "Avi, I want you to be happy, you deserve to be happy."

"Thanks Kevin," Avi said with a smile.

"I'm going to go over and talk to Kristie this morning," Avi said sipping his coffee.

"That's good," Kevin said.

They continued to talk and drink coffee and they made some waffles as well. After eating breakfast, saying goodbye to Kevin, Avi headed out in the direction of Scott and Mitch's. He knew that he would pass Aaron and Kristie's old place, so he tried to go quickly by that door. He passed it without incident and he was thankful.

As he walked up to the front door of Scott and Mitch's place, he wondered what he would say. He knew that the words would come to him once he saw her. He reached his hand out and knocked and no one answered at first, he could hear someone moving around the apartment inside. He knocked again and the door slowly opened and Scott stood there yawning and Avi said, "Hey Scott, can I come in?"

Scott opened the door and halfway smiled, "Sure, come on in, Avi."

Avi walked in and saw that the couch was made up with a pillow and blanket and sheets. He looked over at Scott and saw Scott sit back down on the couch and crawl underneath the blanket and look over at Avi and said, "Have a seat, sorry we are all still sleeping. What time is it?"

"Where's Kirstie?" Avi asked.

"She's in my room, why?" Scott asked.

"Just curious, that was nice of you to give up your bed, you don't even fit on the couch," Avi said trying to make light of the situation.

"It's fine, she'll be out soon anyways," Scott said watching Avi now.

"She will?" Avi said with a little bit more excitement than he thought he would.

"Yea, she's not going to stay here forever, it was always just for a couple of days," Scott said.

Kirstie came out to the living room and saw Scott and Avi talking and she felt her stomach do somersaults. She tried to go back to the bedroom before anyone noticed her, but too late. Avi turned and said, "Good Morning, Kirstie."

Kirstie slowly turned back around and smiled and said, "Morning Avi. What are you doing here so early? It's not even 7:30 in the morning."

Avi said, "Wow, I didn't know it was still so early, sorry about that, I've been up for a while."

"Really, why?" Kirstie said as she walked over and sat on the end of the couch as Scott scooted his feet back so she could.

"Just thinking about things," Avi said staring at her in the eyes.

Kirstie felt the stare, but also felt Scott's eyes on her too. This was getting a little too intense for her. She had slept by herself last night while Scott took the couch. She felt Scott's leg lean against her and she tried to focus on Avi. She was not about to flirt with either one in front of the other. Avi looked at Kirstie and then at Scott and then back at Kirstie and said, "Can we talk privately, Kirstie?"

"Sure, let's go out on the balcony," Kirstie said standing up.

Avi and Kirstie walked out onto the balcony and Kirstie sat down in one of the chairs while Avi sat in the other. They looked out at the trees and Kirstie smiled and said, "It's going to a beautiful day."

Avi looked over at her and smiled, he loved how Kirstie found beauty in every day.

"I wanted to talk to you about us," Avi said.

Kirstie looked over at Avi and wondered if she should be honest with him and she knew that it would be best if she was. She basically gave Avi the same talk she gave Scott. She opened Avi's eyes to her feelings towards Scott. After hearing her talk about everything, Avi said, "I wasn't expecting you to be so honest with me, but thank you. So you like both of us?"

"Yes, I know it's hard to understand, but I have feelings for both of you," Kirstie said.

"On one hand, I am so happy that you like me too, Kirstie, but, to be honest with you, I don't know how I feel about you having feelings for Scott too. I'm not going to fit for you, Kirstie. So, I guess Scott likes you as much as I like you?" Avi said with a heavy sigh.

"Yea, sorry Avi, I don't want to hurt you, I just wanted to be as honest as I can be with you. You and Scott are both important to me and I don't want to lose either of you in my life," Kirstie said.

"I don't want to lose either of you also, so I guess I can't get another kiss?" Avi teased.

Kirstie shook her head, "no."

"Okay, worth a shot. So, I guess I'm going to go back in and face Scott now. This won't be awkward at all," Avi said now understanding Scott's looks towards him this morning up until now.

Avi stood up and walked back into the living room and saw that Mitch has now joined Scott on the couch and they were watching TV. Avi looked over at Mitch and said, "Morning Mitch."

"Morning Avi, good talk between you two?" Mitch asked as he felt Scott's foot nudge him. Mitch looked over at Scott and gave him a look.

Avi smiled and said, "I guess so. So, this isn't awkward at all, Scott."

Mitch laughed and said, "This is so funny, it's like I'm living in the TV show, the bachelorette."

Scott shoved Mitch to the end of the couch with his foot and he and Avi gave him a look. Kirstie looked at Mitch and said, "I'm so glad that I can be your personal entertainment, Mitchie, this is nothing like the Bachelorette."

"Yes, it is. You like them, they like you, all you need is a rose," Mitch said smiling.

Kirstie finally laughed at the situation and it did lighten the mood a little bit.

"Well, I'm going to go get ready for the day, I'll see you later Avi, okay," Kirstie said.

"See you, Kirst," Avi said.

Mitch looked over at Scott who was not amused by his joking and he knew to give Scott some space at the moment and said, "Sorry, I'll leave you two to talk."

Mitch walked back to his room and shut the door and Avi stood as Scott slowly rose up to a sitting position. Scott was the first to speak, "Avi, I don't want this to come between us."

"I don't want that either," Avi said.

"If she wants to be with you, I'll be okay with that. All I want for her is for her to be happy. I told her the same thing. That doesn't mean that I don't want to be with her, because I want nothing more in the world. But, I am not going to play games or fight for her, this is her choice," Scott said.

"You love her?" Avi asked with a realization of his best friend sitting in front of him confessing his true feelings.

Scott didn't answer, but just looked at Avi.


	11. Chapter 11

Chp 11 – Decisions

Kirstie got ready for the day and headed out of the apartment. She waved bye to Scott and Mitch who were both sitting at the kitchen table eating. Avi had left a while back. Kirstie headed over to her old apartment and knocked on the door. Aaron answered and said, "Hey Kirstie."

"Hey Aaron, I came to get some of my things together if that's okay. I was just going to box everything up and hopefully will have everything out today. I'm going to rent a storage room if I can't get an apartment today. I am going to see available ones today," Kirstie said.

"Okay, whatever," Aaron said walking away from the opened door. He went in and sat back down on the couch. Kirstie looked around and saw glasses and plates scattered throughout the apartment along with some trash, dirty clothes, and she thought that it didn't take him long to make a mess.

"So, how is your slumber party going with Scott?" Aaron asked sarcastically.

"Very funny, Aaron," Kirstie snapped.

"You and Scott start something yet?" Aaron asked, this time more seriously.

"No, I have a lot to think about right now, so I am taking things very slow," Kirstie said not really knowing why she was talking to Aaron about all of this.

"What are you thinking about? We broke up, you obviously like him and he loves you, so, date him," Aaron said.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Kirstie said, wanting to stop talking about this. Aaron could read her so easily.

Aaron noticed something in Kirstie's tone and wondered what else was going on, "What's going on, Kirst, what aren't you telling me? The only reason that you and Scott aren't already dating is because of someone else. I know it's not me, so, does he still have a thing for Esther or something."

"No, he doesn't like her like that," Kirstie snapped not realizing how she truly felt about Scott liking someone else.

"Hmmm, do you happen to like someone else?" Aaron asked.

Kirstie looked down at the floor and then said, "I'm going to start packing my stuff now."

Aaron stood up and walked over to Kirstie, "You little vixen, you. You just like everyone now. Who is the other guy now?"

Kirstie shot a look at Aaron and said, "You act like I planned for all of this to happen, I didn't. It just happens sometimes."

"I'm only giving you a hard time, Kirst, I still love you, you know. If you were to say, Aaron, let's get back together, there's no one else, I would say, yes in a heartbeat," Aaron said sincerely this time.

"I am sorry that I hurt you, I think that you know in your heart that we aren't meant to be. If you really looked inside yourself, you know that we wouldn't make it," Kirstie said.

"I know," Aaron said.

"I do want to be friends," Kirstie said.

"You know that we will be nice to one another in the hall, but we aren't ever going to be best friends, Kirstie," Aaron said.

"I know, I am sorry though," Kirstie said.

"I know, I'm sorry too," Aaron said.

They hugged and then Kirstie started going through her things and getting them into piles. After about an hour or so, Aaron walked into the room and was amazed at her progress, and said, "You should take a break, I can make some lunch."

"That's nice of you, okay," Kirstie said.

Aaron went into the kitchen to see what he had and then came back into the room saying, "Grab your stuff, we are heading out to eat."

Kirstie grabbed her stuff and headed out the door with Aaron, something she did a thousand times before. She was happy that he was being so nice now. They got into Aaron's car and headed out to a nearby sandwich shop. They walked in and placed their order at the counter and went to a table outside to sit and wait. Kirstie looked at her phone and scanned messages while Aaron did the same. The food came and they both started eating. They were laughing about something when Avi walked up.

"Hello you two," Avi said.

Kirstie, almost choking on her bite of sandwich, said, "(cough cough) Hi (cough) - uh, hi Avi, what are you doing here?"

Aaron noticed the immediate tension between Avi and Kirstie and wondered if this was the other guy who Kirstie liked and knew that it was by the way she was acting.

"I was grabbing a bit to eat, I have to say, I'm surprised to see you out together," Avi said without a smile.

"I was packing up my stuff at the apartment and we were just getting a bite to eat," Kirstie said.

"We aren't on a date, if that's what you are concerned about," Aaron said.

Kirstie looked over at Aaron and knew he figured it out already and she sighed. Avi looked over at Aaron and said, "Why would I care about that?"

"Avi, I can tell you have a thing for Kirstie and by the way she's acting, she likes you too. I just didn't want you to think that we were getting back together or something like that," Aaron said.

"Thanks Aaron for your concern, but I don't think that I will be getting together with Kirstie anytime soon either," Avi said walking away.

Kirstie stood up and said, "Aaron, seriously, are you trying to ruin everything."

"What, I didn't say anything, I was trying to help you out, seriously, Kirst, what did I say?" Aaron asked.

Kirstie walked up to Avi and stood right in front of him where he had to stop. He looked down into her eyes and Kirstie said, "Why are you walking away?"

"Because, I am realizing how I am right now and I don't want to be this jealous guy, I can't stand to see you even having lunch with your ex before I turn into a monster, so I am just walking away," Avi said.

"I am going to have friends that are guys, I have four guy best friends as we speak, you are one of them," Kirstie said.

"I know that, I don't want to mess anything up. Besides, I think that I know something about Scott that you don't and it really has given me something to think about," Avi said.

"What do you know about Scott?" Kirstie asked.

"It's not for me to tell you, but he cares for you so much, Kirst, you know, he wants nothing but your happiness for you, he doesn't care who you choose. But, I care. I want you to choose me, plain and simple; I'm being selfish in that aspect," Avi said.

"Kirstie, I need you to make your decision, do you see a chance at all with us?" Avi asked.

"You want me to decide right now, this minute," Kirstie said stunned.

"Yes, right now, do you see us together?" Avi asked.

Kirstie looked at Avi and said, "I can't decide right this second Avi, I'm sorry."

"I will make it easy for you; don't choose me, because if you can't choose me right now, in this moment, then I know that we aren't going to be together. Now, think about this before you get all upset about what I am saying, if I were Scott and said the exact same thing to you, would you have said something differently?" Avi said.

"Scott would have never asked me like that," Kirstie said softly.

Avi regretted his words instantly and said, "I'm sorry, Kirstie."

"It's okay, maybe I was a fool to think that I could take my time deciding who I wanted to be with, when ultimately, in the end, I would be hurting one of you," Kirstie said.

"Kirstie, you have no control over your heart and how it feels, but maybe we are better as friends, this way, I can always keep you in my life, as a best friend," Avi said.

"I like you so much Avi," Kirstie said.

"But, I think we both know that you might possibly love someone else," Avi said thinking of earlier of Scott's comments about Kirstie. Avi could tell that Scott loved Kristie in that moment. He wasn't sure if Kirstie loved Scott, but he didn't want to stand in their way if they did love each other.

Kirstie looked at Avi and he smiled and said, "I'll see you later, okay. Go back to your lunch with Aaron."

"Okay, see you," Kirstie responded.


	12. Chapter 12

Chp 12 Part One - Kavi Ending….

Kirstie turned back towards Aaron and then turned back towards Avi and walked up to Avi and grabbed his arm and said, "Stop, Avi."

Avi turned around and said, "What?"

Kirstie asked, "Do you know how hard that was for me to tell you I like you and then you just walked away?"

"I wasn't walking away from you, I was walking away so that I wouldn't say something that I would regret," Avi said.

"What would you say that you would regret?" Kirstie asked.

Avi thought about what he would have said, he wanted to say, don't pick Scott because Scott wasn't the one who loved her. Avi was the one that was in love with Kirstie and he couldn't figure out how to tell her. "Kirst, I really would like to take you out on a date?" Avi asked.

Kirstie was a little surprised by the question especially after everything that Avi just said. She smiled and looked into Avi's eyes and said, "Yes."

Avi said, "Thank you, Kirstie.

"What was so regretful about that?" Kirstie asked.

Avi smiled and said, "I'll tell you one day, maybe. Don't enjoy your lunch too much with your ex."

"Avi, stop saying that, it's just Aaron, I hate that word, ex," Kirstie said.

"Okay, Aaron," Avi said.

"So, when is our date?" Kirstie asked.

"How about tonight, I'll pick you up around eight?" Avi asked.

Kirstie thought about where Scott would be and said, "That's good, Scott and Mitch will be out with their friends tonight."

Avi frowned slightly and said, "Are you going to tell Scott about the date?"

"Maybe, I'm trying for this whole honesty thing, remember," Kirstie said.

"Okay, well, break it to him gently, I don't know how he will react to it," Avi said.

"He'll be fine," Kirstie said. Kristie gave Avi a quick hug and watched him walk down the street to his car.

She turned around practically skipped back over to Aaron who was sitting back watching the whole thing go down, he just couldn't hear anything. "Wow, Kirstie, try and not look so excited in front of your ex," Aaron said with a smirk.

"Aaron, what it is with people and that word, ex." Kristie said.

"Because it's the word that we use, that's what I am, Kirst," Aaron said.

"I still want to be your friend, Aaron," Kirstie said.

"I know, just give me some time, I don't want to hear all about you and your feelings for other guys right now," Aaron said pointing in the direction of Avi.

"Okay, well, we need to hurry so I can get back, I need to get ready," Kirstie said and then stopped herself from telling Aaron about her date with Avi.

"Kirstie, you should see your face, you are so giddy. It makes me a little sad because I haven't seen that look in your eyes in a long time," Aaron said somberly.

"Aaron, you and I were happy, we just didn't work together," Kirstie said.

"Why, tell me what I did," Aaron asked.

"You get really jealous and sort of controlling sometimes," Kirstie said.

"I guess I have always been the jealous guy in relationships, I don't know how to change that, it's just who I am," Aaron said after eating another bite of his food.

They finished up their meal and each paid their own way and they headed back to Aaron's. Kirstie had gotten pretty much everything packed up or sorted into the guest bedroom. It looked strange around the apartment without all of her little touches everywhere. She looked around the living room and then to the messy kitchen and said, "Aaron, you should clean up."

"I live alone now, I can be messy if I want too," Aaron said with a proud grin.

"I see that," Kirstie said joking. She headed towards the door and said, "I'll let you know when I get my place so I can get my stuff."

"Okay, sounds good, see you later, Kirstie," Aaron said.

Kirstie headed down towards Scott and Mitch's and was happy to have had spent time with Aaron that wasn't too awkward. She headed into the apartment and smiled at Mitch who was sitting on the couch. He looked over at her and said, "Where have you been for so long?"

"Packing and sorting through my stuff over at Aaron's and then we went to lunch," Kirstie said plopping down onto the couch beside Mitch.

Mitch looked over at Kirstie and she seemed happier for some reason, "Kirst, you seem really happy."

"Is that a bad thing?" Kirstie asked.

"Not at all, um, are you and Aaron getting back together or something?" Mitch asked.

"No, I have a date tonight, that's all," Kirstie said.

"Really?" Mitch said giving her a look begging for more details.

"With Avi, he happened to be out and came up to the same sandwich shop that Aaron and I were at and it just sort of happened, he asked me out, and I said yes," Kirstie said with a wide smile.

"You are going out with Avi?" Scott said from the doorway of his bedroom.

"Scott, hi, I was going to talk to you about it," Kirstie said standing up and walking over to where he was standing.

"Why are you going out with Avi?" Scott asked trying to remain calm, he thought to himself, this is Kristie's decision, she can choose who she wants.

"I want to go out with Avi, I'm sorry Scott," Kirstie said.

Mitch looked away from the conversation and looked down at his phone. Scott looked down and then back up at Kirstie and said, "Have you made up your mind?"

"I don't know Scott, I want to go out with Avi and see if there is something there," Kirstie said.

Scott didn't say anything, just stood there taking it all in. Kirstie went to hug Scott and he stepped back and went into his room and shut the door behind him. Mitch came over and said, "Give him some time, Kirstie, I'll talk to him, I'm happy for you and so is Scott, even if he didn't say it. Scott wants nothing but your happiness." Kirstie nodded and then went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for her date with Avi. She tried not to worry about Scott right now and just focus on Avi and being open to whatever might happen.

Mitch slowly knocked on Scott's door before entering and saw Scott lying down on his bed looking at his phone. Mitch went over to the bed and said, "You okay?"

Scott showed Mitch his phone and Mitch saw that the folder that Scott had on his phone of photos of him and Kirstie were gone, he deleted the entire folder. Mitch said, "You are giving up, aren't you."

"I'm not going to fight Avi for Kirstie and I'm not going to stand in the way of her happiness. I will get over it. If she wants to be with him, I'm not going to cause a scene and ruin my friendship with her or him or ruin our band."

"Scott, I'm here for you, I'm so sorry, but she may not have fun on the date? You never know," Mitch said trying to make his friend feel better.

There was another knock on the bedroom door and Kirstie opened it and said, "Sorry, I need to get my shoes, they are in here."

Kirstie walked in and Scott sat up on his bed and said, "Mitch, I need to talk to Kirstie alone."

Mitch nodded and headed out of the room and looked at Kirstie and smiled before closing the door.

Kirstie walked over to the bed and sat down and looked over at Scott and said, "I'm sorry."

"Kirstie, you don't have to be sorry, you know, maybe we should just be friends, we have been best friends forever and I don't want anything to come in between that. I love you Kirstie and I want you to be happy," Scott said looking at her with a small smile.

"I love you too, Scott," Kirstie said and leaned over and gave Scott a hug. It was a hug that best friends give each other and Kirstie felt her feelings for Scott start to fade, she felt Scott release from the hug and she leaned back.

"Have a good time tonight," Scott said.

"Thank you Scott, you are such a great guy and best friend to me. I don't know what I would do without you in my life," Kirstie said with a smile.

Kirstie stood up and headed out the door with her shoes in hand and she turned back to Scott who was staring at her and she wondered if he would really be okay with her and Avi if they were together.

Avi showed up to the apartment and knocked on the door and was surprised when Kirstie answered it.

"Hi Avi," Kirstie beamed.

Avi smiled and said, "Hi Kirstie, you look amazing."

He leaned and gave her a hug and Kirstie felt for the first time that she could truly hug Avi back. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. Avi pulled Kirstie closer into the hug as he felt her do this and he smiled into her hair. He leaned back and said, "You seem different?"

"I just feel more at peace with things," Kirstie said.

"Shall we go?" Avi said pointing down the hallway holding out his arm.

Kristie turned locked the door and grabbed Avi's arm and they headed out towards his car.

Avi was a perfect gentleman and opened the door for Kirstie and she slid in and reached over and tried to open Avi's door, but failed to do so because of the length of her arms, which made her laugh. Avi opened his door and he got in and said, "I saw that, you are too cute."

"I tried," Kirstie said and then asked, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, but I know that you will love it. Did you talk to Scott?" Avi asked.

"Yes, he's okay with everything, he practically gave me his blessing," Kirstie said.

"Really, he wasn't upset," Avi said a little surprised.

"If he is upset, he's a really good actor. He cares a lot about me and our friendship and he cares about you too, Avi. He just wants me to be happy," Kirstie said.

"Are you happy?" Avi asked reaching over and grabbing hold of Kirstie's hand.

She smiled and said, "Yes, in this moment, I am happy."

Avi smiled and they headed over to a park near the beach. Avi got out and walked around to Kristie's door and opened it, holding out his hand, saying, "We are here."

"I love coming to the beach at night, it's so beautiful," Kirstie said taking Avi's hand.

Avi and Kirstie headed out towards a table and it was all set up for dinner for two. Avi held out a chair for Kirstie and he sat across from her and she looked down at the table and then looked up at Avi and said, "When did you have time for all of this?"

"I had help from Kevin and Esther," Avi said.

"Esther helped too? I thought that she hated me," Kirstie said.

"She doesn't hate you, she was mad and jealous, and she feels bad for what she did to you and me, but it's all in the past now, I am choosing to move on with my life, and I hope that includes you," Avi said.

"Since when did you start saying romantic things to me, Avi," Kirstie said with a smile.

"Since kissing you, Kirstie," Avi said.

Kirstie knew that she was blushing and was thankful for the night to hide her blushing. They enjoyed the food and drinks and when they were done, Avi took Kirstie's hand and they headed out to walk along the beach. Kirstie felt that she having such a great time with Avi. She stopped and Avi stopped as well and said, "What is it?"

"Yes," Kirstie said.

"Yes, to what?" Avi asked.

"You asked me a question the other day and I never got to answer you," Kirstie said.

"I asked you if I could kiss you again," Avi said stepping towards Kirstie.

She smiled and stepped towards Avi and he wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Avi leaned towards Kirstie and kissed her and she felt that for the first time, she could freely kiss Avi and she did.

(A/N: If you are a KAVI fan, stop here, you won't like the next chapter. If you are a SCRISTIE fan, if you made it this far…? the next chapter will be for you. Thank you again for reading and I plan on starting a new story very soon, possibly a sequel to Summer at the Beach. I will keep you posted.)


	13. Chapter 12 Part 2

Chp 12 – Part 2 – Scristie Ending -

(A/N: Not to confuse anyone, just wanted to write two different endings for my story…This will take place where Chapter 11 left off.)

Kirstie went back to the table with Aaron and he looked up at her and said, "What was that all about? You seem to be in deep thought." Aaron asked.

"Just thinking, that's all," Kirstie said picking at her food in front of her and moving it around a little.

Aaron looked over at Kirstie and said, "Okay, well, just tell me, I hate to see you in such distress, what's with you, Kirstie."

"I think that I need to go right now, okay, I'm sorry, I'll talk to you later," Kirstie said as she got up and put some money down on the table for her portion. Aaron smiled and said, "Okay, I'll see you later."

Taking her time walking back to the apartment, Kirstie went to a nearby book store and looked and walked around and ended up grabbing a coffee and sitting in the little coffee shop attached to the book store. She looked through magazines as she sipped her coffee, but every once in a while, she would look up and just look around and people watch some. She watched the couples walking by holding hands and watched the families walking by. She wanted something like that; she felt that all of these decisions she had to make were becoming clearer as each moment passed. She thought about everything that had happened over the past couple of days and she thought about her feelings for Scott and her feelings for Avi. She felt herself slowly pull away from those feelings she had for Avi and that's when she began to really see clearly how she felt for Scott. Avi was right, she loved Scott, she was in love with Scott. She sat there for a little bit longer and pulled out her phone and texted Scott to see where he was at.

Scott called her and she answered her phone, "Hey."

"What's up Kirstie, I'm at the apartment," Scott said.

"I didn't know if we could talk?" Kirstie asked suddenly feeling very nervous.

Scott sensing Kirstie's tone said, "Do you want me to come meet you?"

"Sure, I'm at the brew down the street," Kirstie said.

"Okay, see you in a bit, Kirstie," Scott said hanging up the phone.

Scott hung up the phone and got up and started getting ready to head out. He left his bedroom and saw Mitch in the living room and said, "I'm going to go meet Kirstie, I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay, you seem weird, what's going on? Is she okay?" Mitch asked concerned.

"I don't know, she just asked if we could talk," Scott said.

"Hm, the talk, she's going to tell you her decision," Mitch said.

"Don't say that Mitch, I don't know what she wants to talk about," Scott said heading out the door waving bye. Mitch waved bye and as soon as the door shut, he pulled his phone out and texted Kirstie, 'What is up girlfriend, Scott just bolted out of here to come see you.'

Kirstie texted back, ';) you'll know soon enough'.

Mitch wrote back, 'come on, tell me'.

'Bye Mitchie', Kirstie wrote.

Scott headed towards the coffee shop and almost ran right into Aaron and he stepped back and said, "Sorry, Aaron, didn't see you there."

"No worries, Scott, where are you off to in a rush," Aaron said.

"Ha-ha, just heading out, see you later," Scott said. He really didn't want to stop and talk to Aaron. Aaron said, "See ya." Aaron watched Scott walk down the street and turned around and headed back to his apartment. Scott arrived at the coffee shop and saw Kirstie sitting at a table by herself in the corner. He went up to the counter and ordered a coffee and headed over to sit with Kirstie. He sat across from her and said, "Hey Kirstie."  
"Hey," Kirstie said losing her nerve to talk to Scott quickly.

She took a sip of her drink and placed it back down on the table. She sat for a little bit before Scott asked, "Okay, so, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I was packing up some of my things today at my old place and Aaron and I went to lunch," Kirstie started.

"You don't want to get back together with him, do you?" Scott asked.

"No, Scott, Aaron and I are definitely not getting back together," Kirstie said.

"Okay, so what happened at lunch?" Scott asked.

"Avi showed up and he thought that Aaron and I were on a date, and then Avi and I talked. He basically asked me to make my decision right then and there and I couldn't. I told him that I couldn't just decide right then and there," Kirstie said.

Scott said, "He probably didn't take that too well, what did he say next when you told him that you weren't going to decide?"

"He asked me what I would say if it were you that said that to me instead of him," Kirstie said back looking up into Scott's eyes.

Scott looked at Kirstie and said it before she could, "I never will give you an ultimatum. I will give you all the time in the world, Kirstie."

"That's what I told him, well, not word for word, but then he backed off completely and said that he knew we weren't going to be together because if I couldn't choose him, then he knew that we weren't meant to be together," Kirstie said.

"I'm sorry, Kirstie," Scott said.

"It's okay, so I've been doing a lot of thinking today and I came to a realization," Kirstie said with a small smile not really knowing how Scott was going to take the news that she was about to give him.

Scott smiled back at Kirstie's smile and said, "What was that?"

"I choose you," Kirstie said.

Scott smiled and said, "I thought that you needed some time."

"I thought that I did, but I think that I knew all along that it was you. I think that you knew that too," Kirstie said.

"I just wanted you to be happy, Kirstie, that's all I ever want for you, for you to be happy," Scott said.

Scott reached across the table and said, "So, Kirstie, can we officially go out on our first date?"

Kirstie smiled wide and said, "Yes, I would love that."

Scott asked, "How about that new movie that you wanted to see, we could grab a bite to eat beforehand?"

"Sounds good to me," Kirstie said standing up. Scott stood up too and Kirstie said, "I think I'm going go and get ready, let's head back."

"Ok, let's go," Scott said as he grabbed Kirstie's hand and headed out of the coffee shop. They headed down the street and for the first time, Kirstie wasn't concerned about who would see her, she was proud to be with Scott and she was excited about the date later. They got back to the apartment and walked in laughing and Mitch came over and said, "That's a sound I haven't heard from y'all in days."

"Mitch, we want you to be the first to know, we are going on a date," Kirstie said.

"Awe, you guys, that's amazing. I'm so happy for the both of you," Mitch said hugging them both.

Scott pulled Kirstie away to his room and shut the door and locked it this time and turned to Scott and said, "I'm not taking any chances this time."

"Scott, what are you up too?" Kirstie giggled.

Scott walked up to her and pulled her into him and he placed one hand on her back and the other touched her face. Kirstie's heart started to beat faster as she placed her hands around Scott. He leaned down towards her and she stood on her tippy-toes and they kissed. They kissed for a little while before they broke free and Scott whispered, "Kirstie, I love you."

Kirstie smiled and said, "I love you too, Scott."

The End

(A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story; thank you for bearing with my two-part ending…

It's all just for fun and enjoyment and fiction… ;) Thank you to all of the amazing folks out there who read my stories. I do this all for fun, and it's nice to see that others enjoy my stories. Be on the lookout for a new story, hopefully, will start writing that very soon.)


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